Waiting for Jesus

Mark 13 talks about the times around the return of Christ.

Mark 13
¹As he was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!"
²"Do you see all these great buildings?" replied Jesus. "Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."
³As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, ⁴"Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?"
⁵Jesus said to them: "Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁶Many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and will deceive many. ⁷When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁸Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.
⁹"You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. ¹⁰And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. ¹¹Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
¹²"Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. ¹³All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
¹⁴"When you see 'the abomination that causes desolation' standing where it does not belong--let the reader understand--then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁵Let no one on the roof of his house go down or enter the house to take anything out. ¹⁶Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. ¹⁷How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! ¹⁸Pray that this will not take place in winter, ¹⁹because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now--and never to be equaled again. ²⁰If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them. ²¹At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'Look, there he is!' do not believe it. ²²For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect--if that were possible. ²³So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.
²⁴"But in those days, following that distress,
   " 'the sun will be darkened,
       and the moon will not give its light;
   ²⁵the stars will fall from the sky,
       and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.'
²⁶"At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.
²⁸"Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. ²⁹Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. ³⁰I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. ³¹Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
³²"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³Be on guard! Be alert ! You do not know when that time will come. ³⁴It's like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.
³⁵"Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back--whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. ³⁶If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. ³⁷What I say to you, I say to everyone: 'Watch!' "

How do we occupy ourselves as we watch for the return of Jesus?

Have you ever had that feeling at the end of the day at work or school where each minute seems to take longer and longer. The last five minutes being just so incredibly long before you get to go home for the weekend or whatever it might be. We experience this in many situations in life where we're waiting for something we eagerly anticipate. The most important thing that we wait for is Jesus' return. And just like anything else, it goes faster if we're busy as we wait. As we wait for Jesus' return to take us to heaven, we should busy ourselves with his work.

Interestingly, the old testament is filled with examples of people waiting for the first coming of Jesus. It talks about what they did. How they responded to God's commands. Whether or not their behavior pleased God. The book of Isaiah and some other books include prophesy about the first coming of Jesus. So, we have have a lot of examples of people waiting for Christ. What they did...how God responded.

We know that God's people had to roll their sins forward through animal sacrifices until the time that Jesus would become the perfect sacrifice for sins. When the people were obedient and kept themselves busy with God's work, he was pleased with them. When they stopped following God's will, they often faced his wrath. For example, when Moses brought the people out of Egypt, they at first feared God and put their trust in him and his servant Moses. However, the people soon began grumbling against God, not trusting in him. Even as Moses was on the mountain where God was telling him his laws, which included the law that the people must not make idols of gold or silver, what were they doing? Making a golden calf to worship. For this, Moses had the Levites go through the camp and kill their brothers, friends and neighbors and God sent a plague on them. A terrible punishment! This was the extent to which God was displeased with their rebellion. Even this failed to make enough of an impact n the people and they continually rebelled to the extent of being sentenced to wander in the desert for 40 years and not see the land that had been promised to their forefathers.


	Hebrews 9 ²⁷Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, ²⁸so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

And we are waiting for him. We look forward to the salvation that he will bring. All of have imagined that great day of his return when he takes his people to heaven.

Waiting...realizing that Christ will return for his people one day.

Not trusting in the things for this life...


	James 4 ¹⁴Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. ¹⁵Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." ¹⁶As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.

See how anxious Paul was for the return of Christ.

Romans 8
¹⁸I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. ¹⁹The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. ²⁰For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
²²We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. ²³Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? ²⁵But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

See how John the Baptist was so happy when Christ the Messiah came to earth.


	John 3 ²⁸You yourselves can testify that I said, 'I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.' ²⁹The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. ³⁰He must become greater; I must become less.

Practically John's entire life was dedicated to preparing the way for Christ. We read about how he lept in his mother's belly because of Jesus.

Luke 1


	³⁹At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, ⁴⁰where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴²In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! ⁴³But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"

Simeon had also waited his whole life for the coming of Christ, the Messiah

Luke 2


	²⁵Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. ²⁷Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, ²⁸Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: ²⁹"Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. ³⁰For my eyes have seen your salvation, ³¹which you have prepared in the sight of all people, ³²a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel."

Messiah means the anointed. The messiah was the promised savior of the Jews who had been promised for so many generations.

According to a footnote in the NIV, "The Christ" (Greek) and "the Messiah" (Hebrew) both mean "the Anointed One."

How not to keep ourselves busy:

Isaiah 32


	⁶ For the fool speaks folly, his mind is busy with evil: He practices ungodliness and spreads error concerning the LORD ; the hungry he leaves empty and from the thirsty he withholds water.

It is human nature to gossip...to talk about people behind their back, to spread half-truths, to be greedy.

We must be busy at work so that we do not dishonor God or bring the name of Christ into disrepute.


	2 Thessalonians 3 ¹⁰For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat." ¹¹We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. ¹²Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat.

Don't waste time as you wait for God

God told Ezekiel to prophesy this in...


	Ezekiel 33 ¹⁰ "Son of man, say to the house of Israel, 'This is what you are saying: "Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?" ' ¹¹ Say to them, 'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD , I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?' ¹² "Therefore, son of man, say to your countrymen, 'The righteousness of the righteous man will not save him when he disobeys, and the wickedness of the wicked man will not cause him to fall when he turns from it. The righteous man, if he sins, will not be allowed to live because of his former righteousness.'

God pleaded with the Israelites to turn from their evil and turn to Him. He forgives us of our sins if we turn to him.

Living for pleasure


	1 Timothy 5 ⁵The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help. ⁶But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives. ⁷Give the people these instructions, too, so that no one may be open to blame.

This applies to all people and not just the widows, as verse seven says. If our lives are dedicated to pleasure, we are dead to God...no use to him as we work only to satisfy ourselves.

Pleasure in sin may last for a short time, but in the end it's not worth it:


	Hebrews 11 ²⁴By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. ²⁵He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. ²⁶He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.

Moses had the chance to live in pleasure with the Pharaoh or to suffer with the people of God and he chose the harder way. It can be difficult and hard work to follow God, but it's such a wonderful choice in the end.

Luke 10


	³⁸As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. ³⁹She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. ⁴⁰But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" ⁴¹"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴²but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

We mustn't be so over-concerned with things in this life that we in any way leave out God. Martha here was so concerned here with issues of etiquette and preparation that she was failing to take advantage of the fact that Jesus, the son of God was there in her house.

specific ways in which we should be busy...singing, praying, studying, telling others about Jesus, etc

Let's be busy with God's work.

You know how time flies when you're extremely busy. The time just seems to slip away if you have more tasks to do than you are able. But if you're just sitting there waiting for something or you're just inactive, time drips slowly like drops dripping into water. We can occupy ourselves with God's work. Imagine how the time passed for Paul as he was busy teaching, admonishing, praying, helping the churches to grow in the Lord.


	Philippians 4 ⁵Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.