A Life of Steadfast Hope, Part 2

Introduction: The Christian Life as Steadfast Hope

0:04 The following sermon was delivered on Sunday evening, May 31st, 1998, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now I direct your attention again tonight to 1 Peter chapter 1 and to verse 13.

0:24 Peter writes, 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 13. In verses 3 through 12, into this first cycle or series of very practical pastoral exhortations written by the Apostle. And in this first cycle or this first unit of pastoral directives, bounded by verse 13 of chapter 1 and verse 10 of chapter 2, Peter begins by focusing upon the Christian life in relationship to God. And he describes that life as a life of steadfast hope, here in verse 13, and then a life of universal holiness in verses 14 through 16, and then a life of motivated fear, verses 17 through 21.

1:46 And now this morning I sought to open up verse 13 under the two headings that are suggested very strongly by the grammar, in the original, and those headings were the supports or the prerequisites of steadfast hope, and then the summons to steadfast hope. And we noted in our study that the two supports or prerequisites for this steadfast hope are the decisive action of girding up the loins of the mind and the abiding attitude of mental and spiritual life. And then the summons to steadfast hope comes to us in terms of the very heart of that summons to set one's hope, one's conscious expectation of certain divinely promised blessings, and the object of that hope is to be nothing less than the grace that is to be brought unto us at the revelation of the Lord Jesus, and the question of the Lord Jesus. And the question of the Lord Jesus is to be brought unto us at the revelation of the Lord Jesus, and the qualification of that hope is that it is to be set perfectly or completely, resolutely, with a sense of finality.

3:06 And after opening up the text, I sought to apply the text by underscoring in your hearing that there are two central issues of biblical revelation contained in this text, and the placement of the text, first of all, that doctrine leads to practice, and that the Christian life can only be lived by Christians. And then I stated, as our time ran out, that there was a second observation based upon this text that was a very critical concern in the scriptures. And though I've changed the wording from this morning, it's the heart of what I had hoped to give you this morning, but God willing, tonight will lay before you with even more parallel biblical support. And that is this. This text highlights a basic element of the New Testament doctrine of the Christian life. It not only sets before us these basic observations concerning biblical revelation, but the text highlights a basic element of the New Testament doctrine of the Christian life.

4:21 And what is it? It is this. That the Christian life...

Peter's Emphasis on Christ's Return as a Foundational Mandate

4:25 The Christian life is to be lived in the conscious conviction of the great fact of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Christian life is to be lived in the conscious conviction of the great fact of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, it's clear from the exposition of our text this morning that Peter obviously shares in that perspective on the Christian life. For no sooner does he move from the statement of what the Christian possesses and is in Christ in virtue of God's great salvation, and as he begins to unfold his doctrine of the Christian life, he gives this front and center position to the issue of believers living in the light of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. So, what is the first mandate of Peter to set their hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought to them at the revelation of Jesus Christ? As Wayne Grudem in his helpful commentary has observed, he states that since Peter is about to launch into

5:55 an extended section of moral commands, beginning at verse 14 and continuing with only a few interruptions through the rest of the letter, this exhortation to hope appropriately forms the transition point to the rest of the letter. If Peter's readers will first know the great truths about their salvation, verses 1 to 12, and then begin a habit of visualizing themselves personally on a path of life leading without fail to unimaginable blessings at the return of Christ, they will be mentally and emotionally ready to strive for a life of holiness before God. I described it this morning as Peter's concern that the believer who is on his pilgrimage as an elect sojourner is flanked on the one hand, by this understanding of the greatness of his salvation in Christ as already conferred upon him and as pledged by God's word, and on the other hand, by a constant vision of the consummation of that salvation at the coming of the Lord Jesus. So as he is, as it were, enveloped in an understanding and in a believing appropriation of what he has

7:24 in Christ, and what he shall receive from Christ, he is then prepared to live as he ought for Christ. And that's the great burden of this part of the letter. Now, the question is this. Is this something unique to Peter? And I'm asserting that this text highlights that which is not some peculiar emphasis of Peter, though the note of hope is found no fewer than five times in Peter's first epistle. But Peter is simply reflecting this baseline element of the whole New Testament doctrine of the Christian life. A doctrine which clearly sets before us the fact that the Christian life is to be lived in the conscious conviction of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus's Teaching: Living in Readiness for the King's Return

8:24 And what we are going to do in the time allotted is to take as it were, an overview of nine or ten pivotal texts in the New Testament, by no means exhausted, in order to help us in seeking to do exactly what Peter tells us to do. I am not concerned that we simply come away from this Lord's Day understanding that in the first epistle of Peter, that it is a duty of believers in the Holy struggles day and onion day for us to follow Christ, which is holy and righteous and infused with the holiness andleb véhicides of his soul. We are in no disguise inconceivable, nor am we doubtful of his technology of life which can be found in dedication to the life of our world, because we have a certain belief to set their hope perfectly on the grace that is being brought to them at the revelation of Jesus Christ. My concern is that we will set our hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. And to help us all to do that, I want us to consider these other passages which clearly reflect this dominant emphasis in the New Testament doctrine of the Christian life, namely, that the believer is to live that life in all of its manifold strands of responsibility and privilege and relationships as a man or woman who has this burning, yearning fixation upon the return of his Lord. First of all, a specimen passage in the teaching of the Lord Jesus Himself.

9:53 If you are familiar at all with the Gospels, you know that the theme of His own return was a dominant theme in the teaching of our Lord Jesus. And He never taught it theoretically, but He was constantly applying it as a regulating pressure upon the minds of His disciples. And we might turn to the so-called kingdom parables, in Matthew 13, where one of the dominant emphases is the coming of the Lord Jesus at the end of the age. Or we might turn to the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24, the parallel passages in Mark chapter 13 or in Luke 21.

10:35 And in those passages we find our Lord again and again speaking to His disciples and telling them that in the living out of their life, they are to live with this confidence, this gracious awareness that their Lord is returning. We might turn to the parables of Matthew 25, growing out of the Olivet Discourse, in which the stewardship of the Christian life is constantly locked in to the reality of the Lord's return. But I pass over all of that, and I take just one specimen passage with you from Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12.

11:15 And remember now, what I'm seeking to demonstrate, is that Peter's emphasis here in 1 Peter 1.13, simply highlights what is a basic element in the New Testament doctrine of the Christian life. And here is our specimen passage in Luke chapter 12. In this chapter, we find that our Lord has spoken to a mixed multitude, beginning in verse 13, and He has given us the Word of the Lord.

11:47 He has given some sober warnings against the sin of covetousness. Then in verse 22, He turns to His disciples, and He now applies this instruction to them. And He tells them not to be anxious for their lives, what they shall eat, nor for their bodies, what they shall put on. He encourages a life of faith in which they can trust their Heavenly Father to provide for their temporal needs.

12:16 Then He says, to the conclusion of that section, that the issue that ought to preoccupy their minds are the issues of the kingdom. Verse 31, yet seek His kingdom and these things will be added unto you. Do not be afraid little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell that which you have, give alms, make for yourselves purses that wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that fails not, Where no thief draws near, nor moth destroys.

12:50 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Our Lord is encouraging His own disciples to have their hearts fully engaged with the kingdom. And no sooner does He do that, but that He moves in verse 35 to a statement that underscores our principle. Let your loins be girded about, and your lamps burning.

13:17 And be yourselves like unto men looking for their Lord, when He shall return from the marriage or the marriage feast. That when He comes and knocks, they may straightway open unto Him. Blessed are those servants whom, when the Lord comes, shall find watching. Verily I say unto you, that He shall gird Himself.

13:40 And make them sit down to meet, and shall come and serve them. And if He shall come in the second watch, and if in the third, and find them so, blessed are those servants. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched and not have left his house to be broken through. Be ye also ready, for in an hour that you think not, the Son of Man is coming.

14:10 Now our Lord in this passage underscores the principle that if your heart is in the kingdom, you will be longed for and live in preparation for the coming of the King. Now that's the principle. That's the connection. He's encouraging in the previous paragraph, let your heart be preoccupied with the concerns of the kingdom, not with eating.

14:41 Drinking and clothing and housing and these things, your Father knows your need. Your Father will provide in the ways appointed. Let your heart be wholly engaged in the affairs of His kingdom. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

15:00 But in having our hearts in the kingdom, our Lord goes on to say, we will live in constant longing for, and in readiness for the return of the King Himself. And there the imagery that we saw from Peter, and some suggest that perhaps Peter could not forget these words of the Lord, and they were the very things that the Spirit of God brought to his remembrance when he wrote his epistle. Let your loins be girded. Be in a constant state of readiness and your lamps burning.

15:38 It's the picture of someone ready to go. On his journey in this setting, ready to respond to the return of the master of the house. That they would not have to all of a sudden scurry about and get their loins girded, and go and trim their lamps and light them. No, no.

15:56 Be in a constant state of readiness and be like unto men looking for their Lord. That's the heart of the passage. Be like unto men looking for. For their Lord.

16:13 Be like unto men in a constant state of readiness, of expectation, the heart's longing, the focus of the soul upon their returning Lord. And we don't have time to go in and open up some of the amazing statements our Lord makes. This is in many ways a unique statement. That at the return of the Lord, the Lord Himself, will serve, will serve the slaves.

16:43 What a reversal. It makes the coming glorious. That He Himself, in ways that are not fully explained here, that He Himself, will gird Himself, make them sit down to meet, and shall come and serve them. Here is a Lord who having secured our salvation, has us in His return.

17:09 Surely something of Peter's insights, fit in this passage. It is grace that will come in its consummate conferral of all of its gifts at the second coming. Surely this is enough to make us yearn, to make us long, to make us have focused energies of the soul upon the return of our Lord Jesus in the language of Peter. To set our hope completely, resolutely upon the grace, that is being brought to us at the revelation of the Lord Jesus.

Paul's Teaching: Christ's Coming as a Fruit of Conversion

17:48 Well, here is a specimen passage that underscores what our Lord emphasizes again and again in His recorded ministry in the Gospels. That these who are His followers are a people who not only attribute all of their salvation to Him, to His death upon the cross, to the virtue of His resurrection, and His atoning work on their behalf, but His followers are a people who live in focused, concentrated expectation of His return in glory and in power. Now then we move secondly to several key passages in the letters of the Apostle Paul. And again, these are only specimen passages. And we look first of all at a passage that shows that conscious longing for the coming of Christ is a major fruit of conversion. Remember what we are trying to establish now?

18:49 That Peter's emphasis on setting our hope perfectly on the coming of Christ is simply reflective of the New Testament doctrine of the Christian life. A doctrine which everywhere asserts that living in the conscious expectation of His return is a major element of a healthy, normal, Christian experience. Now as we turn to the Apostle, we see first of all that conscious longing for the coming of Christ is a major fruit of conversion. Turn to 1 Thessalonians please.

19:24 Here Paul describes the conversion of the Thessalonians in these words. Verse 9. He said that when we go into other places, we don't have to give a report of what happened when we were there with Micah. Why don't you have to give a report, Paul?

19:47 He tells us. For they themselves report concerning us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how you turned unto God from idols to serve a living and true God and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come. Now Paul says when we go to other parts and we begin to say, hey, have you folks heard what happened when we went to Thessalonica? They say, yes, we have.

20:23 You don't need to tell us, Paul. We've already heard. Well, what did you hear? Well, we've heard that when you and your companions came to Thessalonica and preached, there were many in that city who turned unto the one true and living God, abandoning their idols.

20:40 Paul says that's true. And furthermore, we've heard that they turned not just with a view to escaping from judgment and wrath and hell, but they turned with a disposition to serve this one true and living God. They turned from their idols, they turned unto the living God, and they turned with a disposition of desire and delight to serve this God to whom they turned. Paul says that's true.

21:09 And they said furthermore, you know what else we heard? We heard that these people who were enmeshed in a lifestyle totally preoccupied with the now. He described something of that lifestyle in chapter 4. He had to give detailed instruction on the most elementary matters of sexual morals.

21:29 These Greek towns were permeated. You know something about Corinth. They were permeated with Roman morality. And there were those deeply enmeshed in these various forms of abandonment to sensuality.

21:48 And he says to these people the gospel came, not in word only, but in power and in the Holy Spirit. And when it did, these people who had been totally oriented to the now, to the world of sight and touch and feeling and smell, suddenly they had a totally new orientation. They turned from their idols to God with a disposition to serve and to wait for His Son from heaven. Their whole life was now framed by this focus upon the return of the Lord Jesus.

22:29 Their whole perspective was dominated by this reality that the Christ who by His saving work had delivered them from the wrath to come was the Christ who would come to confer the full gamut of the blessings of salvation that He purchased by His own redemptive work. This is why earlier he could say in explaining what he gives thanks for on behalf of the Thessalonians. Look at verses 2 and 3. We give thanks to God always for you, making mention of you in our prayers.

23:07 Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, that is your work born of a disposition of faith, and labor of love, that is your labor born from a disposition of love, and patience or steadfastness born of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to you because we see in you those fruits of true conversion. You are now working as men and women who have come to faith. You have come to embrace the living God as your God and Christ as your Savior.

23:51 And now your energies are being dispensed in a way that reflects that believing attachment to Christ and to the living God through Christ. And he said we give thanks that now there is evident in you this work of faith, this labor born of love, love to God and love to men, for the fruit of the Spirit is love. He that loves not knows not God, for God is love. Can anyone be converted who doesn't come into a basic orientation of life marked by faith and love?

24:23 Can the Spirit of God regenerate a man, come to indwell a man, and there be no basic life of faith or love? Impossible. But it's just as impossible that he does a saving work and there is not this strand of hope. That is a confident expectation of the consummate future blessings of salvation promised in Jesus Christ.

24:51 So that when Paul describes the conversion of the Thessalonians, he describes it in a way that underscores the fact that conscious longing for the coming of Christ is a major fruit of conversion. Ah, but someone says, he says that of the Thessalonians, but he doesn't say that of all other believers. Well, does he? Or doesn't he?

25:13 Well, I want you to look at 2 Timothy chapter 4, and I think you'll see the answer. Toward the close of his final charge to Timothy, his spiritual son in the faith, giving him a realistic assessment of the difficulties in which Timothy will have to minister, as there is a turning away from truth and a proliferation of false teachers. After charging Timothy, he then says in verse 6, for I'm already being offered, that is, poured out as a drink offering, already being offered, the time of my departure is come. I've fought the good fight.

25:56 I've finished the course. I've kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give to me at that time. And not to me only, but also to all them.

26:13 And how is he going to describe the rest of God's true people? He could have described them and to all them that have trusted in the same Savior, that have loved the same Savior, that have served the same Savior, but that is not his generic description of the true people of God. You see how he describes them generically? Unto all the people of God, and unto all the people of God.

26:38 Unto all them that have loved his appearing. That's a synonym for a true Christian. Who is a Christian? A Christian is one who trusts in the Lord Jesus alone for salvation.

26:52 True. A Christian is one who out of love to this trusted Savior seeks to frame his life by his word. He is an obedient subject of the Lord Jesus. That's true.

27:04 You could describe a Christian in a lot of ways, but here Paul describes Christians generically as those who love his appearing. It is an indispensable mark of true conversion. Now granted, that love will have various degrees. It will be influenced by a number of factors, not the least of which is understanding, meditation, reflection.

Paul's Teaching: Christ's Coming as a Result of Grace's Tutelage

27:34 I understand all of those variables. But the baseline of this passage underscores that if there is not a fundamental love for his appearing, an orientation of life that looks forward to the grace that will be brought at the revelation of Jesus Christ, and other worldly perspective, then there is reason to question whether or not our professed faith is indeed genuine saving faith. Conscious longing for the coming of Christ is a major fruit of conversion. Secondly, as we look at some pivotal passages in Paul, conscious longing for the coming of Christ is a major result of the tutelage of the grace of God. Conscious longing for the coming of Christ is a major result of the tutelage, as in Titus chapter 2. Titus chapter 2. I hope you don't mind just having a bible study on the Second Coming.

28:52 We are doing tonight. And let the homiletical purists squirm and I hope we'll be blessed. In Titus chapter 2, Michael is giving directions regarding the kind of instruction he is to give to those Christians on the isle of Crete. He begins chapter 2 by saying, fit the sound or healthy doctrine or healthy teaching. Here's that relationship again between doctrine and practice. He said, speak the things that are befitting to healthy doctrine. And what are those things? He gives specific delineation of practical godliness to various categories within the church. Aged men, aged women, young men, young women, etc. Now, in order to underscore why it is

29:40 so pivotal that the believers in the Isle of Crete understand how to live in a manner that is befitting to healthy doctrine, Paul says in verse 10, here's the rationale for all of this, for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us, training us, tutoring us, instructing us, to the intent. This is what the grace of God in the gospel teaches us. If you and I have come under the tutelage of the grace of God in the gospel, this is what we have been taught, instructing us to the intent that, number one, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously and godly in the gospel. In this present age, well, isn't that enough? To be taught by the grace of God that we ought to be committed to a life of universal holiness, involving on the one hand denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, and on the other, the positive statement, living soberly, righteously, and godly

31:03 in this present age. No, that's only one half of the curriculum in the tutelage of grace. The other major dimension of that curriculum is this, looking for the blest hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and savior, Jesus Christ. The grace that takes us in hand and chooses us, that we are to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and live soberly, righteously, and godly from this present味ge also invariably teaches us that.

31:41 in conjunction with that we are to be looking for the blessed hope and appearing of our great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Now can you imagine someone who claims to have come under the tutelage of the grace of God, who has no understanding of or commitment to a life in which he denies ungodliness and worldly lusts, and is seeking by the grace and power of Christ and by the Spirit to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age? Does the Bible recognize as a Christian someone who does not have the elementary commitments to a holy life, involving the negative and the positive? Well, you know your Bibles well enough to know the answer to that.

32:25 Of course not. Follow after the holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. And text after text, well, according to this passage, if anyone has come under the tutelage of grace, he has always...

32:40 He has also been taught that though he has present privileges and responsibilities in this present age, the best is yet to come for him. And therefore, grace teaches him to look for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of his great God and Savior, even Jesus Christ. So, the apostle not only sets before us the fact that conscious longing for the coming of Christ, but also the fact that he is a Christian. The coming of Christ is a major fruit of conversion, but conscious longing for the coming of Christ is a major result of the tutelage of the grace of God.

Paul's Teaching: Christ's Coming as a Component of Comfort

33:20 But then, thirdly, in the Apostles' corpus of New Testament literature, we find that conscious understanding of what will occur at the coming of Christ is a major component of comfort. A conscious understanding of what will occur at the coming of Christ is...

33:40 A conscious understanding of what will occur at the coming of Christ is a major component of comfort. Turn now to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.

33:48 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 13. But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them that fall asleep, that you sorrow not, even as the rest who have no hope. Paul apparently became aware that among the Thessalonians there was a form of uninstructed, inordinate grief. When their loved ones, who were Christians, died.

34:18 Now, how he received that information, do we don't know. But he clearly states, we do not want you to be ignorant concerning them that fall asleep. Fall asleep is a beautiful, spirit-inspired euphemism for a Christian dying. He falls asleep in Jesus.

34:37 That's the biblical language. And he said, I don't want you to be ignorant concerning them, because if you're ignorant, you're not going to have...

34:44 You're not going to have the consolations that you ought to have, in order that you do not sorrow, even as the rest who have no hope. So you see what his subject matter is. He wants to go after a wrong kind of emotional response to the death of Christian loved ones, and he does so by overcoming their ignorance with respect to their true condition and their true prospects. Now, how does he overcome their ignorance?

35:15 To remove their inordinate, unfounded sorrow. Does he go into a dissertation on the intermediate state and tell them the kind of things that he writes in 2 Corinthians 5? To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, or Philippians chapter 1, I have a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. No, he says nothing about the intermediate state.

35:42 He doesn't tell them to comfort themselves. He says, comfort one another by affirming the blessed truth that when a believer dies, falls asleep in Christ, his spirit departs, goes into the immediate presence of Christ, is instantaneously, completely sanctified, it joins the ranks of the spirits of the just men made perfect. Absent from the body, present with the Lord. A wonderful truth taught in the scripture.

36:14 But he makes no reference. To the intermediate state. What does he do? Well, let's see what he does.

36:20 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, them also that are fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring with him for this. We say to you by the word of the Lord that we who are alive that are left under the coming of the Lord shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the arcane. And with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we that are alive and are left shall together with them be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

37:01 And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words.

37:12 And what are the words with which he would have them comfort one another? Words that would bring with them a conscious understanding of what will happen at the coming of Christ. He wants them to know that with respect to their loved ones who have died in Christ, far from being second class citizens because they were not alive at the coming of Christ, they will be given preferential treatment. Isn't that what the passage says?

37:44 When the Lord descends from heaven with a shout in the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then, then, then, a word of time, their sequence, they rise first. Then, we that are alive that are left shall be caught together, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds. Preferential treatment, he says, is going to be given to your loved ones.

38:19 Far from any notion that apparently was floated there at Thessalonica, that in some way to be one who had to go through the door of death and not to be alive at the parousia, at the coming of the Lord Jesus, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus, would somehow put you in a second class spiritual citizen category. Paul says no. Just the opposite is true. You need to...

38:44 You need to understand that when the Lord himself returns and when he returns with the entourage of his holy ones, those who have died in Christ shall be cared for first and then we together with them shall be gathered unto our Lord and forever be with him. Comfort one another with these words. No wonder he concludes the letter with this wonderful statement in verse 23 of chapter...

39:14 Chapter 5. The God of peace himself sanctify you wholly. Now notice, as he thinks of their total sanctification, what it includes. May your spirit and soul and body...

39:29 You see, there is no platonic notion in biblical theology that somehow the body is just the shell and the soul is imprisoned in this incompatible shell. No. No. No.

39:43 No. No. No. No.

39:43 No. No. No. No.

39:44 No. No. No. No.

39:44 No. No. No. No.

39:45 Psychosomatic entities into which God is breathed the breath of life is sacred to God. And our salvation finds its culmination not in the perfection of our spirits at death, but in the glorification of the body at the second coming of the Lord Jesus. That's the apex of redemptive privilege and only then is the whole purpose of God in salvation for his people realized and he goes on to say without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ faithful is he that calls you who will also do it someone may ask do you believe in perfect and entire sanctification we say yes absolutely sanctification of body soul and spirit entirely sanctified the question is when at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and it is this that Paul wants these believers to understand he doesn't want to have to wait till the pastor comes into the home and opens up a passage and cut no he said you comfort one another with these words be so steeped in these realities with a conscious understanding of what will occur

41:05 at the coming of Christ that you can administer comfort to one another with ease not just with ease not just with ease not just with ease not just with ease not just with ease not feel it all awkward or tentative but you can say to a grieving loved one look my brother my sister look beyond the pallid face look beyond the bitter memories of those last hours and the horrible influence of sin upon the body in which it took it to a grave look beyond all of that and hear your returning Lord hear by faith the voice of the archangel hear by faith the trump of God hear its piercing note see by faith the graves opened and see the returning Lord taking care first of all of that loved one at whose death you now grieve and the memory of the circumstances of his or her passing fill you with all of these negative emotions what are you to do to your brother or sister comfort with these words then in second Thessalonians he uses the same truth of the coming of Christ it's so central to the coming of Christ it's so central to the coming of Christ it's so central to the return of Christ it's so central to the coming of Christ it's so central to the coming of Christ second Thessalonians again the joy that they have in election day engaged in new testament thinking is to uncomfortable

42:22 it's to be a comfort not only when we think of our loved ones who died in Christ but when we think of facing opposition from the ungodly these Thessalonians who were taking it on the chin all Can write the spiritual life of Christ of Nazareth습 in verse 3 of chapter 1 2nd Thessalonians we're bound to give thanks to God always for you even as it is meet that your faith grows exceedingly and the love our hearts for and those who know Jesus do not meet you need in depth will hurry if you have three wishes which is to take from us or even to honor us in an innumerable number if any of you who are liking material sense we need to go and had to throw away the word of each one of you toward one another abounds so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God. Now notice what he glories in. For your patience and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions which you endure. Paul was conscious that in the midst of more than an ordinary amount of persecutions and afflictions, these Thessalonians, though relatively young believers, were maintaining a posture of steadfast faith. They were not turning back. Now he's going to instruct them as to how they should think about this opposition. And he says certain things with respect to that opposition as it relates to the world about them and to the ungodly themselves. But then he turns in verse 7 and directly addresses

43:36 these Thessalonians. And to you that are afflicted, rest with me. Rest with us when? At the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven. You who are afflicted, rest with us. Understand that there is a point in human history when all of your sufferings and persecution and opposition will be seen in its true light. And I want you to understand that. Now notice what he says. Rest with us at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven With the angels of His power in flaming fire, rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus, who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of His might, when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be marveled at in all them that believed.

44:47 The one and the same coming of the Lord Jesus, the one coming in which He will be glorified in His saints, and marveled at in all that believe, it will be the revelation of Jesus Christ. We will see His glory in ways we could never have. Never see it by faith here below. Never behold it mirrored in the scriptures.

45:12 The most eloquent tongue inflamed with the power of the Holy Ghost could never begin to show His glory. In that day we'll see that glory. He will be marveled at, and we will be amazed at what we see. But that coming that will ravish the hearts of the people of God, when He is glorified in His saints, and marveled at in all them that believed.

45:36 He wants those very saints to understand that that same coming of that same Lord Jesus will be the final, ultimate crushing of all His and their enemies. He comforts them with the doctrine of divine retribution at the second coming of Christ. Do you see that in the passage? The same coming that He isolates in chapter 4 of His first epistle and says, comfort one another with these words.

46:06 And all that He says is, comfort one another with these words. And all that He says is, comfort one another with these words. And all He describes is what the returning Lord will do for his dead and living saints. Now He describes in 2 Thessalonians 1 what that coming will mean not just for his saints but for all who know not God and obey not the gospel.

46:26 Those who were opposing these Thessalonians, those who were bringing them under persecution and afflictions. He says, Those who were bringing them under persecution and afflictions. He says, know that in conjunction with the second coming Christ will deal with all of his and his people's enemies and I want you to rest in this blessed reality verse 7 and to you that are afflicted rest with us at the revelation of the Lord Jesus and we will rest in the reality that the God who says vengeance is mine I will repay will according to this passage take vengeance now again have you got a Christ who is a vengeful Christ we've seen him as the concerned Christ who watches over the dusted saints and will give that dust preferential treatment at his return but the same Christ whose hard issued authority will only serve him alone who says that the Lord Jesus Christ will not revenge upon him alone who says vengeance is mine I will repay will according to this passage is large, with infinite love and care for his own, who die in him and whose bodies are in the graves. It is the Christ through whom God will mediate all of his righteous vengeance against all of his and his people's enemies.

47:51 And Paul underscores that a conscious understanding of what will occur at the coming of Christ is a major component in the Christian's comfort. Comfort in the face of the death of loved ones, comfort in the face of opposition and persecution, and we could trace out many other ways in which this truth that is foundational to the New Testament doctrine of the Christian life is used by the Apostle. But now, we must hasten on to look at one passage, what I'm going to call the dominant passage in Peter's epistle. We've looked at a specimen passage from our Lord.

Peter's Dominant Passage: The Certainty and Impact of Christ's Return

48:31 We've looked at these key passages from Paul's pen. Now note with me the dominant passage in Peter's epistle. Dominant passage in Peter's epistle. Some commentators have noted that if Paul is the apostle of faith and John the apostle of love, Peter is the apostle of hope.

48:55 Now you can't put any hard-fast category. John says, every man that hath this hope in him purifies himself. Hope is found in the Joannine corpus. Paul is also the apostle of hope and of love, but in terms of overall emphasis, we do find an emphasis in Peter on this matter of hope.

49:16 It is Peter who speaks of setting our hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought to us. And there are many references to the second coming in 1 and 2 Peter, but the watershed passage in Peter is 2 Peter chapter 3. After affirming the certainty of our Lord's return, he then states that three things will result and ought to result in the lifestyle of the people of God as a result of their confidence of the return of the Lord Jesus. We pick up the reading at verse 9.

49:56 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long suffering to you word, not wishing that any perish, but that. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

50:05 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

50:35 honestly desiring the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. But, according to His promise, we look for a new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that you look for these things, give diligence, that you may be found in peace, without spot, and blameless in His sight. You see what Peter is emphasizing? The certainty of the Lord's return. Again, it's not an abstract doctrine. Yes, I believe Christ will return again. I believe at His return He will glorify the saints, and judge the wicked, and renovate the heavens and the earth, and usher. It's not a matter of saying, yes, I believe all of that,

51:25 and it's out there as one of the things locked up, as it were, in the hard, dry, and cold, and cold, and cold, and cold, and cold, and cold, and cold, and cold, and cold, and cold, and cold, and cold, and cold. No! It is there as a dominant perspective that regulates life. And the way it regulates life, verse 11, seeing these things are thus to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy living and godliness? It will have an influence upon your overall lifestyle in terms of a commitment to practical godliness and it will produce in you a looking for and an earnest desiring difficult to translate that particular greek word you'll notice the marginal reading of the asb hastening earnestly desiring reaching out towards the coming of the day of god a commitment to holiness joined with a looking and earnest desiring of the day and then a keen anticipation of the fruition of that day but according to his promise we look for a new heavens and a new earth

52:41 wherein dwells righteousness and then he comes back and underscores the first strand of emphasis wherefore beloved seeing you look for such things he comes back to the practical emphasis again of a life of godliness and holiness see what peter is saying the conviction that the lord is returning is a conviction that touches the whole of life it touches us when we're making those little decisions in the direction of righteousness or sin that which would leave us unspotted or that which would paint and spot us it touches us with respect to all holy living and godliness it touches us with respect to where are our deepest longings are they fixed upon anything that is bound by time and sense and sight or our deepest longings fixed upon that which now by faith we see looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of god and as we look around do we even think as we walk in a situation where we see the friction root of ungodliness. Do we think every square inch of the ground on which I now walk will one day be suffused with nothing but righteousness? There's going to be a new heavens and a new

54:06 earth that will have some continuity with this present earth. It's going to be renovated. It will, in the language of Romans 8, be delivered from its bondage of corruption. And at the return of the Lord Jesus, this present world will be one wherein dwells nothing but righteousness. Righteousness in every man. Righteousness in every relationship.

54:31 Righteousness in every structure. However life will be structured in the new heavens and in the new earth, surely that perspective will make all the difference to these pilgrims living in a hostile society. Living in the midst of a situation totally unfavorable to a life of godliness. A thousand influences to dull the conscience and to make us earthbound and timebound.

The Bookends of Revelation: Christ's Coming as a Central Theme

55:00 And we need to keep our eyes fixed, looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God. But not only is this the emphasis in our Lord's teaching, the Apostle Paul, the Apostle Peter. We don't have time to look at that emphasis in John's epistles. But it is the dominant emphasis in the last book of the Scripture.

55:22 And I want you to look at two bookend texts as we bring our study to a close tonight. Two bookend texts. You remember that the book of the Revelation was written not for people to make charts and speculate about the future. But John himself, in a period of intensifying persecution, has been exiled for the sake of Christ. He is on the isle of Patmos. And the risen Christ who moved moves amidst the seven golden lampstands, the seven churches, knowing, succoring, empathizing, correcting, admonishing, instructing. He wants these letters, this epistle to be sent to these seven churches. And among the dominant purposes is that those who are facing persecution would understand the ultimate triumph of Christ. That though now they are oppressed, and though the powers of evil that will be depicted under various images, the beast and the dragon and these gathered hosts of evil, the world pictured as great Babylon, all of these will ultimately be defeated by Him who is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

56:33 But notice the consolation that is given in that overarching purpose of the book. John, verse 4 of chapter 1, John to the seven churches that are in Asia, grace to you and peace from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits that are before the throne, and from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth, unto Him who loved us and loosed us from our sins by His blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priest to His God and Father, to Him be the glory and dominion forever and ever. John no sooner identifies Christ in the glory of who He is, and in the wonder of what He says, and in the wonder of what He says, He has made us a kingdom, priest unto His God and Father. But the first thing He then says in verse 7, Behold, He comes with the clouds.

57:32 John, I'm writing to the seven churches, grace to you and peace. And this comes from the living God, from the Spirit, from Jesus Christ, Christ who is faithful witness, firstborn from the dead, ruler of the kings, of the earth, the Christ who loved us, loosed us from our sins in His own precious blood, gave us this tremendous status. The world may be treating you, the Lord is saying through John, the world may be treating you like it's off scouring, but Christ has made you a kingdom of priests to His God. And that Christ, He says to His people, He is coming.

58:14 He is coming. The first thing He impresses upon them to give solid encouragement, is the fact He is coming. He is coming with the clouds. And every eye shall see Him, and they that pierced Him, and all the tribes of the earth, shall mourn over Him even so.

58:32 Amen. The first prayer of the book of the Revelation is a prayer for the coming of the Lord Jesus. Even so, let it be, John says. Amen.

58:46 Now we come all the way through the book to the last chapter. And how does the book close? It closes with the words of the Lord Jesus being followed with a prayer. Verse 20 of chapter 22.

59:01 He who testifies these things says, Yes, I come quickly. Amen. So be it. Come, Lord Jesus.

59:17 The book begins and it ends with the coming of the Lord Jesus. A prayer in the first place. The first announcement of His coming. Amen.

59:27 Let it be even so. And the prayer with which the book closes. I come quickly. Amen.

59:37 Come, Lord Jesus. Now, dear people, I have only given you a very small smattering of the text permeating the New Testament. But I hope this has been enough to demonstrate the validity of the observation we've made from 1 Peter 1.13.

59:55 That in the New Testament doctrine of the Christian life, the fact of the coming of the Lord Jesus is not a secondary or tertiary emphasis. It is at the very center of the major strands of emphasis with respect to the Christian life. God willing, when we come to this table next Lord's Day evening, even in that, the Second Coming is placed before us. As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do preach the Lord's death.

60:29 Not until you die. That's true. You will preach it there until you die. But death is not the terminus for the Christian.

60:37 You preach the Lord's death till He comes. Everywhere you turn, you meet it. Why? Because it is a dominant element in the New Testament doctrine of the Christian life.

Personal Application: Is Christ's Return a Dominant Reality in Your Life?

60:51 So that leads me to the obvious question. You know what I'm going to ask you. Is it a dominant reality in your life? Or must you confess, as I have had to confess with shame, that there are times when days pass and I do not consciously think my Lord is returning?

61:14 This text has convicted me from one side of my heart to the other and up and down in every other direction. As I've had to pour over a text that says as a foundational element of the Christian pilgrimage, set your hope with finality upon the grace to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. And I've had to say, Oh God, I haven't begun to begin to be that kind of a Christian. I've been ashamed of myself.

61:48 I've had to confess my sin of being earthbound. You think it's an easy thing to preach if you want to be honest with the word of God first of all in your own heart? This text has ripped me up one side and down the other. Don't shrink from an honest confrontation with that question.

62:11 I've had to live with it for hours. Is this a dominant element in your Christian life? If not, could it be that that's the explanation for the lack of progress in many areas of your Christian life? If God has ordained that it should have such a pervasive influence, and it is not having that influence, then are we not like the person who's seeking to pursue good health while omitting some vital components of foodstuffs that are necessary for good health?

Exhortation to Believers and Unbelievers

62:49 I only ask the question. I don't point the finger and condemn, but I do ask the question. And only you can answer it. And if you cannot say, Yes, it is a dominant element in my Christian experience, then may God help you, as I trust He's helping me, to take the exhortation of Peter, girding up the loins of our mind, identifying those areas of our mental activity that are leaving us tangled in the robes of an undisciplined thought life, and gather them all up, and in conjunction with a spirit of sobriety, set our hope with finality and fixity, upon the grace that is to be brought unto us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. For you who sit here strangers to God's grace, I pray that just the reading of that passage in 2 Thessalonians will strike fear to your heart. He is coming, and should He come this night and find you unbelieving, your eternity will exegete the words, taking vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the gospel. Your experience will exegete the words,

64:15 who shall suffer eternal punishment from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His might. May God grant that you turn from your sin, cast yourself upon this gracious Savior, who is utterly and irrevocably committed to bring to the weakest of His people all of the blessings of His grace that He purchased in His cross. And so certain is that grace that Peter can describe it as already bearing down upon us. And bless God, one of these days it will overtake us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Our Father, we do thank You for Your Holy Word, that it is a lamp unto our feet and a light to our pathway. And when we hear men speculating about the future, as they speculate about the past, as they try with unaided reason and with all of their scientific equipment to answer the most elementary questions of where did this world come from and where is it going, how we thank You for Your Word.

65:38 We thank You that it is a sure Word. And we pray that we may fashion our hearts upon its realities, that we may by Your grace live as Your people in the light of the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. Forgive us, O Lord, for our lack of gathering the loins of our minds. Forgive us for our lack of sobriety, forgive us for being earth-bound and sense-bound.

66:13 We confess to You our sin and ask for grace and help. Seal Your Word to our hearts and be merciful to us as we seek to live this coming week as those who embrace from the heart every duty, every responsibility, who lay hold by faith of every privilege that is ours in Christ, but whose spiritual eyes are fixed upon that day of consummation. May we be found among those who love our Lord's appearing. We ask in His worthy name.

66:52 Amen.