Title: The Saint of Waiting
2012. 5. 27 Sunday morning worship service
Bible: James 5:5-7
Title: The Saint of Waiting
James 5:5-7 ‘5. You have luxuries in the earth, and your indulgences made your hearts fat in the day of the slaughter. 6. You condemned and killed the righteous, but he did not oppose you.
7. Therefore, brethren, be patient until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and is patient, waiting for the early rain and the latter rain.' - Amen.
There is a saying that life is a series of waiting.
There are three different kinds of waiting for saints from unbelievers. The presence of waiting makes the dream come true and the reason to live becomes clear. I would like to share the sermon entitled <The Saints of Waiting>.
1. Waiting for the day of eternal life in the kingdom of heaven
The ultimate dream of a Christian's life is to go to heaven on the day of eternal life. He Himself said in John 6:40 that the purpose of the Son of God came into the world. Paul also Philippians 3:10-11 “10. I was conformed to his death, so that I might know Christ, the power of his resurrection, and the sharing in his sufferings.
In 1 Corinthians 15, discussing the fact that the purpose of Christian existence is the resurrection, 1 Corinthians 15:17 emphasized that “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile..”
Acts 24:15 “I have hope in God, which they await, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.”
Saints with a different view of the universe looking at the afterlife, heaven, and non-believers are skeptical and live with an erratic understanding of life. We are different. We are the ones who properly know the afterlife and wait.
2. Waiting for God's Grace
Saints go beyond the laws of the world, receive comfort, counsel, and discipline in God's Word, receive God's guidance, wait for God's grace, and live according to the Lord's will, which is different from unbelievers.
Text James 5:5-6 ‘5. You have luxuries in the earth, and your self-indulgence has made your hearts fat in the day of slaughter.
The world has indulged in materialism and values as prophesied in the Bible, and people of true faith have become the object of hatred even from within the church. In verse 3 of this chapter, it says, “...you have amassed wealth in the last days.” Among the causes of the fall, if material abounds, it has had a history of perishing indefinitely.
Saints are people who believe that they will live according to grace by putting the rules of good and bad in the Word of God and praying. We just live according to the Word and wait for the grace of tomorrow. Abraham, who was promised while in haste, also got a concubine and suffered losses, and King Saul was also hasty and was punished by acting as a priest (1 Samuel 13:8-). Christians have a different view of history. They are living beings according to God's economy, who works all things together for good (Romans 8:28).
3. Waiting for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ
Above all, the saints are waiting for the coming of Jesus Christ, and they are living in a completely different time history from the world.
James 5:7 “Therefore, brethren, be patient until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and is patient, waiting for the early and the latter rain.” The saints were those who waited for the coming of the Lord Jesus. .
Philippians 3:20 “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from there we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
The identity of God's people should be compared to non-believers because they have different views of the universe, history, and time. I pray that you and I will enjoy the authority as children of God while establishing this identity that is so different and so precious.