This is Connect with Skip Heidzig. Thanks for joining us for today's program. As we pause to remember the tragic events of September 11th, we're reminded that in times of darkness and uncertainty, God's Word is a steady light. That's why this month we're offering a free resource to help you engage with scripture in a fresh and meaningful way. It's called Studying the Bible, a simple one-sheet download.
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Now, let's turn to today's teaching. from Pastor Skip Heitzig.
So, when I was a kid, I was taught a prayer by my mom, and I bet a lot of you learned, I bet we learned the same prayer, right? Uh that's simple, but um Profound Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord. My soul to keep.
So that's the first prayer. I learned to pray. And uh have you ever ever Looked at the words. a little more carefully. It's a lot to lay on a five-year-old.
If I should die before I wake. I pray the Lord my soul to take. What's up with that? You know, you're teaching a five-year-old to think about his impending death. But the older I get, I realize there is wisdom.
In having A child. prepare or at least think about The inevitable. Which is that we're all going to die. There is another inevitable event that is coming that we should also Be prepared. Four.
That is the coming of Christ. Jesus Christ is coming Again. He said so. And ever since he left the first time. He left the promise that he would come a second time.
But I know people will say, Yeah, I've heard that for years. People have said that for years. Grandma used to say that. I've read that Christians in every generation have said that, and you would be correct. And I want to highlight that.
One Christian leader said this: the last days are upon us. Weigh carefully the times. Look for him who is above all time. Eternal and invisible.
Now that sounds like it could have been said last week by some prophecy teacher on television. But now It was spoken in 110 AD by Ignatius. This is 20 years after John wrote the book of Revelation. Here, this church leader is saying we are in the last days. Then in 236 AD.
The Bishop of Rome, Hippolytus. Wrote that Christ was sure to return by 500 AD. Sure to return. In the 1500s, Martin Luther wrote, We have reached the time of the white horse of the apocalypse. This world will not last any longer.
Than a hundred years. Then there was Christopher Columbus. A lot of people don't know that he was a Bible student, and he wrote a book on prophecy. And he said, that the world would end in 1656. He said, and I quote, There is no doubt the world must end.
within one hundred and fifty five years. I'm glad they were wrong. I'm glad that we are still waiting for that event because we would not have been included otherwise. And yet we are. But a question every day generation of Christians has asked.
is the question are we living in the last days? Jesus' own disciples asked him, When he said that he was coming. He said, tell us. What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age.
Well After he Gave the all of a discourse, which is the reference I made. Jesus went on to die on a cross. Rise again from the dead and ascend into heaven. And on the day when he ascended into heaven and his followers were with him, I'm guessing that the author of this book, James, was also. on the Mount of Olives.
Because we read that James was an unbeliever until the resurrection. After the resurrection he believes. More than likely, James, the author of the book, was with the followers of Christ when Jesus ascended into heaven and they watched the event. And do you remember what the angel told them? The angel said, You men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven?
This same Jesus who was taken from you will so come again in like manner as you have seen him. Go into heaven. Perhaps James, when he heard those words, said When Exactly will that be?
Well, that takes us to James chapter 5. And we're going to read verse 7 and 8 together, and then we will spend our time just in these, principally, in these. Uh two verses. Verse seven. Therefore be patient, brethren.
Until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting for it until it receives the early and latter rain? You also B p Patient. Establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord. is at hand.
Now In the paragraph before this, that is last week's message. James was addressing the rich. Telling them to weep and to howl because judgment was coming upon them. They were oppressing the poor working man. They were withholding wages from him.
Now James pivots He shifts from speaking to the oppressors. And now he addresses those who are oppressed, the persecuted, the poor working man. That's the majority of James' audience. They were the blue collar salt of the earth working folks and They were suffering. They were losing finances.
They were being persecuted. And I've noticed something about The coming of the Lord and those of us who are suffering. Whenever we suffer the most, Have you noticed that's when we want the Lord to come back the most? Nobody really wants the Lord to come back when it's like the night before your wedding. Boy, I hope Jesus comes back before I get married tomorrow.
Nobody says that. Or I'm going on vacation to Hawaii. Boy, it'd be great if Jesus would show up so I don't have to go to Honolulu. Um We ache for his coming when things are not going well. Like we have a test on Friday.
Jesus, come back soon. Or we're facing a medical procedure, it'd be great if the Lord would show up before that, I wouldn't have to go through that.
So he is writing to these poor, suffering believers. And I just want you to notice the word in verse 7, brethren. Therefore, be patient, brethren.
So we have established that he's writing to Christian brothers and sisters. And this is an important word because he does not use it in the previous two paragraphs. When he addresses the entrepreneur, saying, I'm going to do this and do that, or he speaks in chapter 5, verses 1 through 6 of the rich, oppressing group of people, he does not use the word brethren as if he is generally speaking. to the unbelieving world. But here he is speaking to believers, and he is trying to comfort them and encourage them.
in the thought of Christ's second coming. And let me just say, as a believer, You never have to be afraid to study prophecy. I hope you're not the kind of believer who says, no, I don't get into those matters of prophecy. It's sort of hard to unravel. I don't get it anyway.
And why be confused? I just won't study it.
Well, there are some pastors who believe that. They don't even teach it because of those reasons. But I will say this. If you leave it out, you are leaving out. a little more than one-fourth of the entire Bible.
26%, we believe, of the Bible is predictive. Prophecy. It's there for a reason. You don't need to shy away from it. And the best way to think of prophecy is simply Prophetic scripture.
Yeah. One little portion of a cardinal attribute of God, which is that God is omniscient. Omniscient means God knows everything. If God knows everything, He knows what's going to happen in the future. And He is able.
quite adequately to record that In writing, which he has, in the Bible. What I'd like to do today, though, in looking at verse 7 and 8 together, is give you three ways. to live victoriously. In the last days. These are three brief.
Summary statements. That encapsulates verse seven and eight. Three ways to live victoriously. In the last days These are character traits. That you can develop, and I would say you must develop.
If you don't develop these three traits, you are going to be discouraged as time goes on. And they're very, very simple. Be ready. Be patient. Be strong.
Be ready. Be patient. Be strong. Let's get into it first. Be ready.
If you go to verse 7. Tell me, what is the first word in that verse?
Okay, thank thank you both of you for saying that, but let's all do it together. What's the first word that shows up? Therefore, there you go, therefore.
Now you know the rule whenever you find a therefore you Find out what it's there for. Right? That's the rule. Whenever there's a there for, you want to find out what it's there for. And the reason it is there is the word is pointing you back to the previous thought, it is connecting you to the previous paragraph.
And the previous paragraph was a warning to the rich I would say the calloused rich. that judgment was about to fall on them. Remember that? Look at verse 5. You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury.
You have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. Judgment is coming. And that warning is tied to a time signature. I also would like you to notice back in verse 3: your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will be a witness against you.
And will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure. And what does it say? In the. Last Days, that's the time signature, the last days.
According to James. We are living. in the last days. In fact, according to James, he was living in the last days. This is Connect with Skip Heitzig.
Before we return to Skiff's teaching, Do you ever feel stuck when it comes to studying the Bible? Pastor Skip's book, How to Study the Bible and Enjoy It, shows you how to go from feeling intimidated by scripture. to engaging it with joy and confidence. This helpful book is yours when you give $50 or more to help keep this Bible teaching ministry going strong around the world. Request your copy of How to Study the Bible and enjoy it today.
at connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-8888. Let's return now to today's message.
So He says, therefore. Based on what I just said about that, therefore, And then you'll notice in verse 7. He uses the term the coming of the Lord. Be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. of the Lord.
And that phrase is used also in verse 8. You also be patient, establish your hearts for the coming. of the Lord is at hand. That means Could happen at any moment.
Now, let's even Skip ahead a verse. Look at the ninth verse: Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the judge is standing At the door.
So here is James. Telling his audience that they should be ready Because Jesus could come back at any moment. It's at hand. He's at the door. Be ready.
This is the most basic Response to to the truth of Jesus coming. First and foremost, we should be ready. I mean, if you know your relatives are coming over for dinner, do you want to get the house ready? If your husband's been away on business and he comes home, I'm guessing you're. The wife is going to want to be ready, or if the wife has been gone, the husband will want a ready.
Himself and the house for that event. If you know workers are coming over to your house to fix something, you want to get it ready to have them come in.
So if Jesus is coming back, in the very least, we should be ready for that event.
So Look with me at The word used twice here in verse 7 and 8 for that event. It is the word coming. The coming of the Lord. The word coming is one of the most important words Used in the Bible to describe the second coming of Christ, not the rapture, the second coming.
So The word used here is the word parusia. Parusia. And Pyrocea is one of the most important eschatological Terms in the New Testament for the second coming. The word emphasizes the physical Presence of Christ, the arrival of Christ. It literally means to be alongside of.
So The coming of the Lord, as used by James, means the day when he actually shows up. Not like I feel the presence of the Lord. No, he's with you. Literally there. His actual coming.
That coming will be the culmination Of the time signature of verse three, the last days, the culmination of the last days. Is the Parusia, the coming, the second coming of Christ.
Now That little phrase, last days, used by James, happens to be used five different times in the New Testament. Once by Luke in the book of Acts, once by Paul when he wrote to Timothy, once by James, once in the book of Hebrews, and once by Peter. Those five times have the same phrase, last days. The last days, the last days. In the Old Testament, there's a very similar phrase, but I'm guessing.
They're dealing with the same Time signature. Isaiah the prophet, Jeremiah, Hosea, and Micah use the phrase the latter days. Daniel the prophet. Gives it four different titles. The end.
The appointed time. The time of the end. The end of days. All of those are descriptors of the same thing. The last days.
Okay. The question is Are we there yet? Are we in the last days? Are we? How many of you think we're in the last days?
Show of hands, honest hands. How many of you don't think we're in the last days on a show of hands? How many of you don't know? Good, I love that. Fair.
Okay, now I would like to Give you what I think is the biblical answer. Are we living in the last days? Yes, we are. But We've been in the last days for the last 2,000 years.
Now let me explain that. Technically, the last days Are the days between the first coming And the second coming. Why would I say that? How do I know that? Because a few times the New Testament Says that.
Once is found in Hebrews chapter 1, verses 1 and 2. The author says, God, who at various ways and in various times spoke in times past to our fathers. By the prophets, listen, has in these Last Days. Spoken to us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the worlds.
So the author says We're there. We're in these last days. The other is probably more familiar to you. It's in the book of Acts. Day of Pentecost.
The Holy Spirit comes on the church. The disciples in the early church are speaking in tongues. But they're speaking in known languages so that the people in Jerusalem hear it. And they go, why are these Galileans speaking in the language of the Cappadocians, the Medes, the Parthians, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera? Those from Mesopotamia, et cetera.
They're Galileans. How do they know our language?
So they're trying to figure it out. And somebody in the crowd says, It's probably because they're drunk. Which is like the dumbest thing to say because I don't know how you learn language. proficiently The more drunk you are. But anyway.
Peter stands up and he says, these men are not drunk. as you suppose. Seeing it's only the third hour of the day, nine o'clock in the morning. Who gets drunk at nine in the morning?
Now, I know there are some people that do. I've been on Delta Airlines where seven in the morning a guy asks for a cocktail right off the bat. But we're talking about Jewish Jerusalem, not going to happen.
So Peter's right in saying, these men are not drunk as you suppose, seeing it's only nine o'clock in the morning. But he says this Is that which was spoken of by the prophet, who said, Prophet Joel, In the last days, I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. This is that fulfillment.
So twice we are told in the New Testament that We are living in the last days, and the last days started then and will continue until the coming of Christ.
So, are we living in the last days? Absolutely yes. But so was Christopher Columbus. And so was Martin Luther. and so was Ignatius of Antioch, and so was the Apostle James.
Now, I'm going to give you a little illustration I think will help. At least it'll help a little bit. Um if you're at home and the game, the football game is on. And um You wives say to your husband, honey, we gotta go. We have that appointment like in 30 minutes.
And we got to get in the car, we got to go. And he says to you, as he's watching the football game.
Okay, okay. Don't worry, I'll be there soon. It's the last quarter. Women, do not think that you're going to leave anytime soon. Because even though the football game is only one hour technically The game itself, in reality, lasts about three, three and a half hours.
NFL game.
So We are in the last days. And last doesn't mean short, last means. Final. It's the last event structure. There's nothing after that.
That's the last. Epoch.
So, if you look at all of history, this will make a little bit more sense. We have different periods of history. We had the creation. Then the fall, then we had the age of the patriarchs, covenant. We had the law, then we had the period of the kingdom, then the exile, then the return.
Then The last days. The New Testament era. the last days. We are in the final quarter. God does not have another play.
God will not send another Messiah or prophet. We are. in the last Quarter.
So the next event on the prophetic calendar is the coming of Christ for the church Which will then bring in a tribulation period and will culminate then thereafter with the second coming of Christ.
So we're right in saying we're in the last days. And Jesus is coming soon. If you've ever read C.S. Lewis's books, The Chronicles of Narnia, and you can see the films, books are way better. It's a series of seven books.
Third book. In the series, it's called The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. And in that book, Aslan, this lion figure who represents Christ, is having a conversation with one of the kids. Her name is Lucy. And Aslan, the lion, says to Lucy, do not look so sad.
We shall meet soon again. Lucy said, please, Aslan. What do you call soon? His response was, I call all times soon. And then Aslan vanished instantly.
I call all time soon. Yes, the church has been waiting two thousand years. But We are 2,000 years closer now than we were then. I know that didn't help you much. But There is nothing left to be fulfilled in Scripture.
So we are really waiting, we're kind of waiting on borrowed time. The Lord can come back at any moment. There's no sign that has to be fulfilled for him to come back for us to kick in that final sequence of end days events. Thanks for joining us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. on this day of remembrance of the events of 9-11.
We cling to the hope and truth found in God's Word. and we'd love to send you Skip's book, How to Study the Bible and Enjoy It. A resource to help you dig into scripture with confidence and joy. It's our thanks for your generous gift of $50 or more to help share this teaching ministry with others around the world. Call 800-922-1888.
or visit connecttheskip.com slash offer. And don't forget to sign up for Skip's weekly devotional and download your free one-sheet. studying the Bible while you're there. Tune in next time for more from God's Word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Make him connect.
Make a connection at the foot of the crossing. Cast your burdens on his wood. Make a connection. Connection. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of connection communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
