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Now let's dive into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig. Titus chapter 2, verse 13. We should live soberly, righteously, godly in this present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 4, verse 7. The end of all things is at hand, therefore be serious and watchful in your Prayers.
Now that's just a sampling, but the blunt force of all these passages is saying Jesus could come back at any moment and we should be ready. It's called the doctrine of imminency. The doctrine of imminency. Or the doctrine of imminence, and it simply means something that is likely to happen soon or could happen at any moment. Every Christian I believe should live.
in that awareness. with the certainty of his return. Over the years I share with you some of my favorite authors and I've Quoted G. Campbell Morgan on a number of occasions. He was a great Bible teacher over a century ago in England.
He's one of my favorite dead guys to read. G. Campbell Morgan said this. To me, the second coming is the Perpetual light on the path which makes the present bearable. I never lay my head.
on my pillow without thinking that Maybe. Before morning breaks, the The final morning. may have dawned And then He added this, I never begin my work in the morning without thinking that he may interrupt it with his work. I am not looking for the grave. I'm looking for him.
I think that sums it up nicely. That's how we should live. That's being ready. I'm looking for him. Remember, the early church had a word.
Of greeting when they would say goodbye to each other. It's actually written about in your Bibles. It's the word Maranatha. Remember that word? And I've said before, we need to bring that word back.
So when you talk to your friends and you're about to leave, just tell them Maranatha. It means the Lord is coming. The Lord is coming. It's a good reminder, isn't it? See you later.
The Lord is coming. The Lord is coming. We should remind ourselves of that frequently.
So be ready. Second, Be patient. Be patient. Verse 7. Therefore.
B Patient. Brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits? For the precious fruit of the earth waiting. patiently for it until it receives the early And the latter reign?
You also be. Patient.
Now, I've noticed something. Whenever you're speaking to somebody who's impatient, And you tell them. Be patient. Do they like it typically or not? No, they don't.
They don't like to hear that. You know, you should be patient. They recoil at that. And James has sort of done that. He's sort of dangled the carrot before them, telling them Jesus is coming soon, could happen at any moment.
But he adds the caution. Be patient. Be patient. And that's the hardest part. Waiting is always the hard part.
So the scripture gives so many promises that he's going to return and he's coming soon, but that soon has now been 2,000 years. And it doesn't help when somebody's there to remind you, yeah, but a day with the Lord is a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day, because what are you telling me, Jesus could come back in another thousand years? You know, we want to know it's going to be very, very soon.
So. He tells them, therefore be Patient. Be patient. James has used this terminology before. First part of chapter one.
Remember, count it all joy, my brethren, when you fall into various trials, knowing that the trial of your faith produces. Patience. Let patience, he writes, have its perfect work that you might be complete, lacking nothing. But He used a different term for patience in chapter one than he uses for patience here. It's the same in English.
It's not the same in the original Greek language. Um In chapter one, The word patience means perseverance. Here It is best translated Long. Suffering. Long suffering.
It is a word usually used in reference to difficult people. People Not difficult circumstances. difficult people. What do you do with people who are on your case, giving you a hard time. persecuting you, hurting you.
Be patient. And that that fits because he has just written to his persecutors. Are their persecutors in verses 1 through 6, the rich who are withholding the wages and taking them to court?
So he writes to them now, and he says, be patient with these people. Then he illustrates it. He said, it's like a farmer. You should have the patience of a farmer. Let me just say, if you are impatient, don't be a farmer.
A farmer has a fairly good. has to have patience. They'll put something in the ground and they'll walk away. They'll get it all prepared, but they'll walk away. And they will wait and wait and wait without any visible indication that anything is happening.
They just believe that it will. one day I recently visited some relatives I never even knew existed in Illinois. I was driving back from Michigan with my wife. I had heard by somebody in this church who helped me with genealogy, my genealogy, that there was a Heizig family. Cemetery.
In Illinois, I said, well, I got to see that.
So I went on Google Maps and it showed up, Heisig Family Cemetery. Did a little drive around on my way on this trip and I found it. Through the cornfields or the soybean fields, and I came upon a house. And somebody was on the porch, and Lenya said, This is not the place. There's no cemetery here.
This is kind of spooky. We should just go. I said, no, I got to get out.
So I got out, went to the porch. And said I'm looking for the Heizig family cemetery. And I'm a Heitzig and she looked at me and said, well, so am I. And so is everybody around here. Everybody from miles around, that's the name of all these people in any farm around here.
They're owned by Heitzigs. And so They're all relatives. of mine that go way back. And so we walked to the cemetery and we got about Four guys with us. I all met them.
They all had the same last name. We are all related in some capacity. And so, as I looked around at the fields, I said, So, what do you grow here? And they said, Well, we grow corn and soybeans. I go, okay.
How many acres do you have? He said, we have about 3,500 acres, 3,500 acres. I go, wow. That's a lot of acreage. That's a lot of responsibility.
And the guy said, Yeah, but there's six of us. It's like, really? You just said that? Six of you taking care of 3,500 acres? It's like, yeah.
But they struck me as being very patient. You have to be.
Now, here's another little insight. The church father Clement, who wrote in about 150 A.D., tells us that James, the author, and his brother Jude were both farmers.
So perhaps this is why James uses this illustration. because it's so dear to his own heart. The farmer will plant after preparing the soil, but then the results are completely out of his control. He has to leave the rest to God. An early frost will kill the crop.
Too much rain will rot the crop. Too much sun will burn the crop.
So he puts it in the ground and he waits. And how much patience does a farmer need? He has to be patient through the entire Growing season. From the early rain, James says, to the latter rain. Let me explain that.
The early rain, that's the fall, that's planting season. That's between October and November. The first rain is what softens the soil. The latter reign comes just before the harvest. That's around March.
Beginning of April. It's the rain that matures the harvest.
So just as A farmer waits through the growing season You and I should be patient in this our growing season. Between the early and the latter reigns. This is growing season. This is the season the kingdom of God is growing. The church Big C is growing.
Hopefully, all of us personally are growing. It's growth time. Harvest time is coming up. Lot of rain, maybe we're in it, maybe we're there, but it's soon, but it's growing season. Be patient, it's growing season.
Galatians chapter six is very akin to this. We're told. Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season you will reap. if you faint not. B Patient.
We all get Impatient. Auntsy. As the world gets more evil, more wicked, more in your face with its policies and wickedness. And especially during election cycles, we all get antsy and we go, man. Come Lord, come Lord, come now.
But Every day we wait is another opportunity for another soul to get into the kingdom. For the kingdom to grow. for God's work to grow. And so Psalm 126, he who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, bringing in the sheaves with him. Be patient.
Patience is sort of like a tree. The root is bitter. The fruit is sweet. It's hard to be patient. It hurts to be patient.
We've been waiting so long. But the fruit. It's great.
So be patient. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heidzig. Before we return to today's message, have you ever struggled to study the Bible consistently? or wondered how to really enjoy your time in the word? In his book, How to Study the Bible and Enjoy It, Pastor Skip gives you the tools and insights you need to dig into scripture with joy, clarity, and love.
clarity and confidence. This practical guide is our thanks for your generous gift of $50 or more to reach more people with God's Word through Connect with Skip. Request your copy when you give today at connectwithskip.com/slash offer or call 800-922-822-222-222- Mm-hmm.
Now, let's get back to today's message from Pastor Skip.
So glad Martin Luther was wrong about the coming of the Lord.
So glad Columbus was wrong.
So glad Ignatius was wrong. I'm so glad back in 1988. They were wrong that Jesus was coming back in 1988.
So glad that in 2000, the millennial bug is going to crash and the Lord. I'm glad they were wrong. Because more and more and more people including many of you, have been brought into the kingdom.
So be ready, be patient. Third. Third way to live victoriously in the last days, be strong. Be strong. Verse 8, he continues the previous thought, you also be patient.
Period, new thought. Establish Your Hearts. That means strengthen your heart. Hearts. Confirm your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
When he said to them, establish or strengthen your hearts, he used a word used of Jesus on his way to Jerusalem. Let me see if I can. Perk your memory a little bit. When Jesus in Luke's Gospel was going to Jerusalem, It describes it by saying, He set his face steadfastly to go to Jerusalem. Do you remember that little descriptive phrase?
He set his face Steadfastly. That's the word. Used here for establish steadfastly.
So, Jesus is going to Jerusalem. He's determined to go there. He knows that when he goes there, he's going to be arrested, he's going to be beaten, he's going to be killed. But he set his face steadfastly. The word means a resolute courage, the determination to stay the course.
No matter how How severe the trial? The word The root word means to prop up. or to cause to stand. Remember, James is writing to an audience who they're starting to feel like they're about ready to collapse. The weight of the culture is on them.
The persecution, the rich have withheld their wages, taken them to court. They're feeling all the weight of all those trials. And so he says Establish your hearts. But here's the interesting to me part, strange part even. The way it is written Both in English and in the Greek language, it's in the command form, the imperative form, the active voice.
Imperative It's a command. He is giving them the command, Establish your hearts. What he's basically saying is, it's our responsibility to prop up our hearts.
Now, I wouldn't write it this way, and you wouldn't write it this way if we were writers of the Bible. Thank God we are not. Or we would say something like, May God strengthen your heart, because we rightly recognize He's the source of all strength anyway. Or we might say, may your Christian brothers and sisters around you strengthen your heart. Because they do.
But he didn't put it that way. He says, in effect, strengthen yourself. That's the command. Strengthen yourself. Establish your hearts.
Prop up your own hearts. Why would he do that? Because Spiritual strength. is both a divine provision and a human responsibility. Did you get that?
It's a divine provision. God provides the strength. But it's a human responsibility. You see, the Bible knows nothing of This passive spirituality that you sometimes hear when people go, let go and let God. No, the Bible does not say that.
Let go and let God. It says, get busy. Uh Hand to the task. Walk the walk. Do you ever read in the Bible where it says, lounge in the spirit?
Veg in the spirit. cruise in the spirit. No, it says what? Walk in the Spirit.
So, spiritual growth, spiritual maturity is not accidental, it's always intentional. To put it another way, God does the operation. That requires our cooperation. There must be a human cooperation with the divine operation. Let me give you another example.
In Philippians chapter 2. Paul says, Work out your own salvation in fear and trembling. Ever read that? People go, how can the Bible say work out your own self? What does that mean?
Keep reading. It says, for it is God who works in you. both to will and do of his good pleasure. He's providing all that you need for you to cooperate with what he has provided. Work out your own salvation, because God will work in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Here's another example: David in 1 Samuel chapter 30, it says, David was greatly distressed. because the people spoke of stoning him.
Okay, that would distress me. Morning, David. We're going to kill you today. And so, what does it say? But David strengthened himself.
In the Lord his God. He strengthened himself in the Lord his God.
Sometimes, You need to. Counsel yourself, talk to yourself, strengthen yourself. Because all the voices of the world, all the voices inside your head that are not telling you the truth must be countered with God's truth. That's what James means when he says, establish. Prop up.
Strengthen yourself. David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. Here's a personal example. Four, five years ago, now, five years ago, I had surgery on my back. I had a condition that required a fusion of two lumbar vertebrae, L4 and L5.
They went in and they fused them together by putting A cage in and around it, putting screws in it. If you look a lateral x-ray, you'd see all the. stuff going on in there. The doctor did the operation. But he didn't say when I went home, okay, have a good life, do anything you want to do.
He said now. I've done the work. I've provided you with the fix. It's going to require, my operation is going to require your cooperation. You need to now go home.
Walk at least one mile a day, if not two. Do stretches and exercises, go to physical therapy for this length of time for these specific things.
So he did the operation, but his operation required my cooperation.
So that is the idea here. Be ready, be patient, be strong. That is, strengthen yourself, prop up your heart.
So the thrust of the passage is whatever struggles you are going through. They are only temporary. One day they're going to end when Jesus returns. And even though he didn't return in James' lifetime. And even though he hasn't come back for 2,000 years, And even though we don't exactly know when he's going to come back.
He is going to come back. And As the world becomes More palpably evil. As the election cycles make us more divided than ever. As the gap between the promise to return and the actual return grows in length. We need to be more ready.
More patient. And stronger. Without these three elements, we will collapse. Be ready. Be patient.
Be strong. And you know why we can do it? Because we have hope. Hope changes everything. Hope changes everything.
I'll give you three things about this hope. This hope gives us comfort. This hope gives us comfort. Paul spoke about the second coming in Thessalonians, he said. The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout.
With the voice of the archangel, the trumpet of God, the dead in Christ will rise first, then we who are alive and remain. Shall be Caught up together to meet the Lord in the air, so shall we ever be with him. Verse right after that, therefore comfort one another with these words.
So this hope Gives us comfort. Second, this hope. Keeps us pure. This hope keeps us pure. 1 John chapter 3.
We know that when he appears, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And everyone who has this hope. in himself. Purifies himself just as he is pure. One of the most purifying things you can do is to be reminded that Jesus could come back at any moment.
My mom used to say to me when I misbehave, your dad'll be home soon. Changed everything.
Okay. Jesus is coming soon. I hope you're not afraid, but anticipating. Oh, okay, you know what? That's going to change things that I decide to do.
So this hope gives us comfort, keeps us pure. Third, this hope. should keep us busy. This hope should keep us busy. Time to work.
It's harvest time. It's growing season. Jesus said, occupy. Until I come. Do business until I come.
One author, I couldn't tell you who, said We should be more spiritually thrilled to invest our time in laboring in God's vineyard. than in estimating the hour of sunset. Until that great day, all of our fervent calculations and Times and seasons are little more than childish games played in a pile of sawdust. The reason it seems so Long. My lord, we've been waiting so long come, come It's growing season.
It's growing season. He wants you in the kingdom. If you're not in the kingdom yet, Please give your life to Christ so we can get out of here. You know, let's get this show on the road here. You might be one of the last holdouts before the rapture comes.
Today's a good day. To give your life to Christ if you haven't done that. The offer is always open. But one day the offer will close. It will close when he comes or you die, and both of those.
are inevitable. And let me just say, you're not ready. We talk about be ready, you're not ready. If Jesus is not your king. You need to make him the Lord of your life, and you can do that.
Only you can do that. Nobody can do it for you. You don't do it by going to church. I go to church, or I've been raised in the church. You're just referencing your performance.
You don't get to heaven those ways. You have to accept Christ as your Savior. If you've never done that before, I'm going to give you an opportunity briefly in a moment to do that. I want you to do that. God wants you to do that.
And deep in your heart, I think you want to do that. Thanks for listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before you go, don't forget to request this month's featured resource, How to Study the Bible and Enjoy It. This book from Pastor Skip offers practical, encouraging help to take your Bible study deeper and get more out of every verse. It's our thanks for your generous gift of $50 or more to help share God's Word with more people.
Call 800-922-8888 or visit connectwithskiff.com slash offer. and be sure to sign up for weekly devotionals and get your free one-sheet how to approach studying the Bible. It's a great tool to jumpstart your time in Scripture. Come back next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect with Skip-Heitzig. Make it 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.
