Here is your God!

The Lord’s Table: Bible Study/Prayer meeting

(Every Wednesday 6-7 pm in the Chapel)

St Paul’s Church

The Anglican Church of Canada

7 December 2011

Opening Prayer

Theme: Wisdom and Love
Topic: Here is your God!

Reading: Isaiah 40:1-11

Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. ² Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. ³ A voice cries out: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. ⁴ Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. ⁵ Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’ ⁶ A voice says, ‘Cry out!’ And I said, ‘What shall I cry?’ All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field. ⁷ The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. ⁸ The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand for ever. ⁹ Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings;^* lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,^* lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Judah, ‘Here is your God!’ ¹⁰ See, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. ¹¹ He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.

Introduction

Over the past 6 weeks, we have been looking at the theme ‘Wisdom and Love’ and have seen how God in His divine wisdom loves us and expects/mandates us to love Him and the people around us with all our heart. It is also very clear from our previous readings and studies that Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead. Although the time for His second coming is unknown, the signs will be evident. In our last study, we discussed Christ’s charge to us to keep awake. In today’s study, we will focus a little bit more on God who said in different parts of the Scripture that He will come again and that His reward is with Him. Why does it seem to be taking so long? And giving how long it is taking, why should we believe that He is actually coming again? Or has He already come and we don’t know it? We certainly do not have all the answers concerning Christ’s second coming but we believe that He loves us more than we can ever know or imagine and that whatever He says He will do, He will surely do. As we discuss today’s topic, let us remember two of  God’s numerous attributes: He cannot lie and He can never ever fail.

Questions/Discussion

1. a) Do you believe that Christ will come again?

Isaiah 40:10, 62:10-12

¹⁰ See, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. ¹⁰ Go through, go through the gates, prepare the way for the people; build up, build up the highway, clear it of stones, lift up an ensign over the peoples. ¹¹ The Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to daughter Zion, ‘See, your salvation comes; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.’ ¹² They shall be called, ‘The Holy People, The Redeemed of the Lord’; and you shall be called, ‘Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.’

Daniel 12: 1-4

‘At that time Michael, the great prince, the protector of your people, shall arise. There shall be a time of anguish, such as has never occurred since nations first came into existence. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book. ²Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth^* shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. ³Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky,^* and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. ⁴But you, Daniel, keep the words secret and the book sealed until the time of the end. Many shall be running back and forth, and evil^* shall increase.’

 John 14:1-4

‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe^* in God, believe also in me. ²In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?^{* 3}And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. ⁴And you know the way to the place where I am going.’^*

Acts 1:9-11

⁹When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. ¹⁰While he was going and they were gazing up towards heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. ¹¹They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’

Revelation 22:7, 12

⁷ ‘See, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.’ ¹² ‘See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay according to everyone’s work.

b) And why should we believe that He is coming again?

Isaiah 40:12-18, 21-23, 25-31, 55:10-11

¹² Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? ¹³ Who has directed the spirit of the Lord, or as his counsellor has instructed him? ¹⁴ Whom did he consult for his enlightenment, and who taught him the path of justice? Who taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? ¹⁵ Even the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as dust on the scales; see, he takes up the isles like fine dust. ¹⁶ Lebanon would not provide fuel enough, nor are its animals enough for a burnt-offering. ¹⁷ All the nations are as nothing before him; they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness. ¹⁸ To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him? ²¹ Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? ²² It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to live in; ²³ who brings princes to naught, and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing. ²⁵ To whom then will you compare me, or who is my equal? says the Holy One. ²⁶ Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created these? He who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name; because he is great in strength, mighty in power, not one is missing. ²⁷ Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, ‘My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God’? ²⁸ Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. ²⁹ He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. ³⁰ Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; ³¹ but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. ¹⁰ For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, ¹¹ so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Luke 21:33

³³Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

2. Why has Christ not come already?

Daniel 10:14, 11:32-35

¹⁴and have come to help you understand what is to happen to your people at the end of days. For there is a further vision for those days.’ ³²He shall seduce with intrigue those who violate the covenant; but the people who are loyal to their God shall stand firm and take action. ³³The wise among the people shall give understanding to many; for some days, however, they shall fall by sword and flame, and suffer captivity and plunder. ³⁴When they fall victim, they shall receive a little help, and many shall join them insincerely. ³⁵Some of the wise shall fall, so that they may be refined, purified, and cleansed,^* until the time of the end, for there is still an interval until the time appointed.

Habakkuk 2:2-3

² Then the Lord answered me and said: Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it. ³ For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay.

Hebrews 10:34-38

³⁴For you had compassion for those who were in prison, and you cheerfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you yourselves possessed something better and more lasting. ³⁵Do not, therefore, abandon that confidence of yours; it brings a great reward. ³⁶For you need endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. ³⁷For yet ‘in a very little while, the one who is coming will come and will not delay; ³⁸ but my righteous one will live by faith. My soul takes no pleasure in anyone who shrinks back.’

2 Peter 3:1-10.

This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you; in them I am trying to arouse your sincere intention by reminding you ²that you should remember the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets, and the commandment of the Lord and Saviour spoken through your apostles. ³First of all you must understand this, that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and indulging their own lusts ⁴and saying, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since our ancestors died,^* all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation!’ ⁵They deliberately ignore this fact, that by the word of God heavens existed long ago and an earth was formed out of water and by means of water, ⁶through which the world of that time was deluged with water and perished. ⁷But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, being kept until the day of judgement and destruction of the godless. ⁸ But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. ⁹The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you,^* not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. ¹⁰But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.^*

3. What will be the nature of Christ’s second coming?

Matthew 24:4-15, 29-31

⁴Jesus answered them, ‘Beware that no one leads you astray. ⁵For many will come in my name, saying, “I am the Messiah!”^* and they will lead many astray. ⁶And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet. ⁷For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines^* and earthquakes in various places: ⁸all this is but the beginning of the birth pangs. ⁹ ‘Then they will hand you over to be tortured and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name. ¹⁰Then many will fall away,^* and they will betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. ¹²And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. ¹³But anyone who endures to the end will be saved. ¹⁴And this good news^* of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all the nations; and then the end will come. ¹⁵ ‘So when you see the desolating sacrilege standing in the holy place, as was spoken of by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand), ²⁹ ‘Immediately after the suffering of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. ³⁰Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see “the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven” with power and great glory. ³¹And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

¹³ But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters,^* about those who have died,^* so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. ¹⁴For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died.^{* 15}For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died.^{* 16}For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord for ever. ¹⁸Therefore encourage one another with these words.

4. What do we do as we await the second coming of Christ?

Matthew 24: 33-44

³³So also, when you see all these things, you know that he^* is near, at the very gates. ³⁴Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. ³⁵Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. ³⁶ ‘But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son,^* but only the Father. ³⁷For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, ³⁹and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. ⁴¹Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. ⁴²Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day^* your Lord is coming. ⁴³But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

2 Peter 3:10-18

¹⁰But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.^{* 11} Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, ¹²waiting for and hastening^* the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire? ¹³But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home. ¹⁴ Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; ¹⁵and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation. So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given to him, ¹⁶speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures. ¹⁷You therefore, beloved, since you are forewarned, beware that you are not carried away with the error of the lawless and lose your own stability. ¹⁸But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.^*

Intercession

Conclusion

As Christ will come again and will not fail, let us live our lives- loving and serving Him and people around us; knowing that He will come at a time we are not expecting Him. That we ultimately live with Him in His Kingdom forever and ever. Amen.

Closing Prayer

Thank you Lord for the promise and encouragement in Your word. Keep us in Your everlasting arms and strengthen our hands and minds to love and serve You all the days of our lives. We ask that You make us worthy to receive Your reward of everlasting life when You return through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.