1 00:00:00,440 –> 00:00:04,880 We have a wonderful passage of Scripture to read together this morning, and I invite you to turn 2 00:00:04,880 –> 00:00:13,200 to Romans and chapter 8, the book of Romans and chapter 8. We’re reading from verse 18 through to 3 00:00:13,200 –> 00:00:27,280 verse 25. Romans chapter 8 from verse 18 through to verse 25. Let us hear the Word of God. 4 00:00:30,879 –> 00:00:39,680 I consider that our present sufferings . . . Now just take a moment there and think about whatever 5 00:00:39,680 –> 00:00:50,320 you would include in your present sufferings. And Paul says, I consider that our present sufferings 6 00:00:51,919 –> 00:00:58,000 are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 7 00:00:58,320 –> 00:01:07,120 The Creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 8 00:01:08,480 –> 00:01:13,120 For the Creation was subject to frustration, not by its own choice, 9 00:01:13,760 –> 00:01:21,120 but by the will of the one who subjected it in hope that the Creation itself will be liberated 10 00:01:21,120 –> 00:01:28,320 from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 11 00:01:30,000 –> 00:01:36,080 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth 12 00:01:36,879 –> 00:01:45,199 right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves who have the firstfruits of the Spirit 13 00:01:45,199 –> 00:01:56,400 groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 14 00:01:58,239 –> 00:02:05,279 For in this hope we were saved but hope that is seen is no hope at all. 15 00:02:05,279 –> 00:02:14,800 Who hopes for what he already has, but if we hope for what we do not yet have, 16 00:02:16,160 –> 00:02:23,919 we wait for it patiently. And now you might like to turn to the second last book of the 17 00:02:23,919 –> 00:02:30,800 New Testament, the book of Jude and that letter where we’ll find our verse that’s our focus 18 00:02:31,679 –> 00:02:38,000 this morning. Now we’re returning today to our series entitled Keeping Yourself in Spiritual 19 00:02:38,000 –> 00:02:45,119 Shape, where we’re learning seven workouts for a healthy Christian life. And as you have 20 00:02:45,119 –> 00:02:50,240 your Bible open at the letter of Jude, if you look at verse 20, you’ll be reminded there of 21 00:02:50,240 –> 00:02:56,479 the early workouts that we’ve considered and learned, and I trust been practicing together. 22 00:02:56,479 –> 00:03:04,000 Number one, build yourself up in your most holy faith. Number two, pray in the Holy Spirit. 23 00:03:04,639 –> 00:03:10,639 Number three, keep yourselves in the love of God. If you want to live a healthy Christian life, 24 00:03:10,639 –> 00:03:17,919 this is how you get yourself in shape. Now, if we pause there for just a moment, 25 00:03:17,919 –> 00:03:25,520 my observation would be this. There is nothing surprising there, is there? If you had been asked 26 00:03:26,479 –> 00:03:33,199 to write a list of key things that you should work on in order to have a healthy Christian life, 27 00:03:33,199 –> 00:03:38,080 I think you would have come up with these three, and so would I. You would have been able to say, 28 00:03:38,880 –> 00:03:44,880 you know, I need to build up my faith, I need to work on prayer, and I need to know more about love. 29 00:03:46,880 –> 00:03:51,919 But my question is, if you had been asked to write this list, would you have got the fourth one? 30 00:03:52,559 –> 00:04:00,080 Because I don’t think I would have. Look at it in verse 21. Keep yourselves in the 31 00:04:00,080 –> 00:04:08,000 love of God—and then here’s the fourth workout— as you wait, as you wait 32 00:04:09,520 –> 00:04:16,799 for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. 33 00:04:16,799 –> 00:04:23,839 You boil this fourth workout down to one word, it would be simply this, Waiting. 34 00:04:25,679 –> 00:04:32,880 Waiting. What have you got to do if you’re to keep yourself in good spiritual shape, 35 00:04:32,880 –> 00:04:38,399 you’re going to have to learn to wait—to wait. 36 00:04:40,880 –> 00:04:45,119 Now, at the beginning of our series, we noted that a good fitness routine will 37 00:04:45,119 –> 00:04:50,480 exercise all of the muscles of the body and we also noticed that the exercises, 38 00:04:50,480 –> 00:04:55,119 if we’re in a training routine that we enjoy the most, are usually the ones that exercise 39 00:04:55,119 –> 00:04:58,399 the muscles that are already the strongest. That’s why we enjoy it, and that’s why these 40 00:04:58,399 –> 00:05:01,679 muscles are strong, because we enjoy doing that exercise—we’re good at it. 41 00:05:02,799 –> 00:05:06,959 But of course, the exercise in any physical fitness routine that we most 42 00:05:06,959 –> 00:05:11,359 need is the one that addresses the muscle groups that are weakest within the body. 43 00:05:11,600 –> 00:05:17,359 And I think that this fourth workout develops an area of the spiritual life 44 00:05:17,359 –> 00:05:22,320 in which most if not all of us really struggle. 45 00:05:24,720 –> 00:05:27,839 Now just thinking about this subject it struck me there is a lot of waiting 46 00:05:27,839 –> 00:05:33,040 that’s going on among us right now. Some of us are searching for a job, 47 00:05:33,040 –> 00:05:37,519 we’ve been looking and we still are, but it hasn’t opened up and you’re waiting. 48 00:05:37,880 –> 00:05:43,359 You’re waiting. Some of us are looking for that special person to share life with, 49 00:05:43,359 –> 00:05:46,799 but we have not found them, you’re waiting. 50 00:05:48,000 –> 00:05:53,839 Others are longing for a child but nothing has happened and you’re waiting. 51 00:05:53,839 –> 00:05:57,839 Others are longing to see a deep change in someone who you love 52 00:05:57,839 –> 00:06:00,880 and have prayed for but you have not seen it yet, 53 00:06:02,480 –> 00:06:03,440 and you’re waiting. 54 00:06:04,320 –> 00:06:08,320 So, there is indeed an awful lot of waiting going on among us. 55 00:06:08,320 –> 00:06:12,239 We could multiply examples. They will tumble through our minds, I’m sure. 56 00:06:13,679 –> 00:06:18,959 And it could well be that learning to wait, in the way that the Bible describes it to us, 57 00:06:18,959 –> 00:06:24,000 will turn out to be one of the most important spiritual disciplines of your whole life. 58 00:06:24,000 –> 00:06:28,959 If you want to keep yourself in spiritual shape, you need to learn 59 00:06:30,079 –> 00:06:30,640 to wait. 60 00:06:31,600 –> 00:06:33,920 Well, that’s our subject this morning 61 00:06:33,920 –> 00:06:40,320 and we’re going to develop three exercises that will help us in this fourth workout. 62 00:06:40,320 –> 00:06:47,279 But first, I want simply to remind you of how important this subject of waiting is in the Bible 63 00:06:47,279 –> 00:06:52,320 because it’s only when we understand its importance that we’ll be motivated to get 64 00:06:52,320 –> 00:06:57,519 into this fourth workout and to get ourselves in spiritual shape in this regard. 65 00:06:57,519 –> 00:07:04,000 So let me give you just a very quick sample of the Scripture that speaks to this very important 66 00:07:04,000 –> 00:07:09,839 subject of waiting. I want us to have the flavor, so let me just read to you five verses from the 67 00:07:09,839 –> 00:07:15,040 Old Testament and then five from the New. And I want simply for us to have the sense of how 68 00:07:15,040 –> 00:07:24,239 God repeatedly speaks to us about waiting. Wait, wait, wait. Psalm 27 and verse 14. 69 00:07:25,040 –> 00:07:33,920 Wait for the Lord. Be strong and take heart. Wait for the Lord. Psalm 37 and verse 7. 70 00:07:34,959 –> 00:07:39,679 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him. 71 00:07:40,799 –> 00:07:46,160 Then notice the context. Do not fret when men succeed in their ways and they carry out 72 00:07:46,160 –> 00:07:51,119 their evil schemes. You see evil being displayed on the news. Wait for the Lord. 73 00:07:52,160 –> 00:07:58,000 Psalm 130 verses 5 and 6. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, 74 00:07:58,000 –> 00:08:06,079 and in His word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for morning. 75 00:08:06,160 –> 00:08:15,679 Isaiah chapter 8 and verse 17, I will wait for the Lord who is hiding his face from the 76 00:08:15,679 –> 00:08:20,559 house of Jacob. Very important verse that, to understand the Christian life. There are times 77 00:08:20,559 –> 00:08:26,239 when God though He does not remove His presence, hides his face, and I say where are you oh God? 78 00:08:27,040 –> 00:08:36,239 and Isaiah says, I will wait for the Lord who is hiding his face from Jacob and then Isaiah 40 31 79 00:08:36,239 –> 00:08:43,280 perhaps the best known in the authorized version, those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their 80 00:08:43,280 –> 00:08:49,039 strength, they shall soar on wings like eagles, they shall run and not grow weary, they shall walk 81 00:08:49,039 –> 00:08:54,960 and not faint. Now when we come into the New Testament it’s fascinating that the whole Christian 82 00:08:54,960 –> 00:09:03,520 community, the church, is described as a community of people who are waiting. 1 Corinthians 1 and 83 00:09:03,520 –> 00:09:11,599 verse 7, you do not lack any spiritual gift, Paul says to the Corinthians church, as you eagerly 84 00:09:11,599 –> 00:09:19,679 wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed or 1 Thessalonians 1 9 and 10, speaking of the 85 00:09:19,679 –> 00:09:25,039 testimony of these people who’d come to faith in Jesus Christ, you turned to God from idols 86 00:09:25,039 –> 00:09:34,320 to serve the Living and True God and to wait for his Son from heaven or Titus, speaking about 87 00:09:34,320 –> 00:09:41,359 holiness of life. The grace of God teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions 88 00:09:41,359 –> 00:09:47,440 and to live self-controlled and upright and godly lives in this present age while we wait 89 00:09:48,400 –> 00:09:53,119 for our blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 90 00:09:53,919 –> 00:10:00,320 Or Hebrews 9 28, Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people, 91 00:10:00,320 –> 00:10:06,320 he will appear a second time not to bear sin but to bring salvation to who? Those who are 92 00:10:07,280 –> 00:10:11,760 waiting for him. You see, that’s what the Christian community is, it is a community of 93 00:10:11,760 –> 00:10:17,440 people who are waiting, looking, longing for the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ. 94 00:10:17,440 –> 00:10:23,919 And then finally our verse this morning, Jude 1 21, keep yourselves in the love of God as you wait 95 00:10:25,280 –> 00:10:31,359 for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Now that’s just a very, 96 00:10:31,359 –> 00:10:34,880 very small sample, it could have gone on throughout our entire time. 97 00:10:35,919 –> 00:10:41,359 The Bible is full of it, and it’s one of the most neglected disciplines 98 00:10:42,080 –> 00:10:48,640 in the whole of the spiritual life in our instant society. 99 00:10:50,719 –> 00:10:56,159 Now the problem of course with waiting is that it always seems like a complete 100 00:10:56,159 –> 00:11:03,359 waste of time, doesn’t it? I’m waiting for a train, I’m waiting for my appointment. 101 00:11:04,559 –> 00:11:08,799 So, we look for things to do while we’re waiting, which is why 102 00:11:08,880 –> 00:11:16,159 there are magazines in a doctor’s waiting room. We try and fill up the time that is redundant. 103 00:11:16,159 –> 00:11:21,440 I take a book in my pocket because I don’t want to waste the time while I’m waiting. 104 00:11:22,719 –> 00:11:31,599 So, we think of waiting primarily as something that we have to endure in order to get what we want. 105 00:11:31,599 –> 00:11:42,880 But God speaks of waiting as the way in which we grow when we don’t have what we want. And there’s 106 00:11:42,880 –> 00:11:45,679 all the difference in the world between these two things. 107 00:11:47,760 –> 00:11:52,640 Waiting, as God speaks to us about it, is never wasted time. 108 00:11:53,359 –> 00:12:01,119 Waiting is one of the workouts that will, properly used, shape your Christian life. 109 00:12:03,039 –> 00:12:09,440 Waiting can be one of the greatest growth opportunities in your entire walk with God. 110 00:12:10,880 –> 00:12:14,960 And if we could grasp that, it will change our whole perspective 111 00:12:14,960 –> 00:12:19,679 on some of the situations we find most difficult and most frustrating in our lives. 112 00:12:20,559 –> 00:12:26,000 Now, I want to suggest three ways in which you can grow while you’re waiting. 113 00:12:27,280 –> 00:12:28,559 The first is simply this. 114 00:12:30,159 –> 00:12:38,719 Grow in patience as you embrace the disappointments of your life. 115 00:12:39,760 –> 00:12:40,880 Listen to our verse again, 116 00:12:41,359 –> 00:12:48,640 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you 117 00:12:49,599 –> 00:12:50,640 to eternal life. 118 00:12:51,599 –> 00:12:56,320 Now, waiting is, of course, what we do when things have not worked out 119 00:12:56,320 –> 00:12:57,599 as we had hoped. 120 00:12:59,359 –> 00:13:06,799 Somewhere within every heart, there is a dream—a dream of life as we would like it to be. 121 00:13:06,799 –> 00:13:15,039 That dream is placed in your heart by God Himself, and when Jude uses the word wait, 122 00:13:15,919 –> 00:13:22,080 he reminds us that the dream in your heart will never be fulfilled in this world. 123 00:13:22,640 –> 00:13:27,359 That’s a fundamental Christian conviction, if we’re to order our thinking by the Bible. 124 00:13:28,799 –> 00:13:33,520 Our first parents—this is one of the first things you learn in the Bible—our first parents 125 00:13:33,919 –> 00:13:40,559 parents were driven out of the Garden of Eden. Paradise was lost, 126 00:13:42,080 –> 00:13:50,400 and the dream cannot be fulfilled here, because this world, though blessed in so many ways by 127 00:13:50,400 –> 00:13:57,440 the goodness of God, is nonetheless under a curse. It is a fallen world in which we live this life. 128 00:13:59,200 –> 00:14:02,799 Now if you and I lived in a land that was blighted by famine, 129 00:14:03,919 –> 00:14:09,760 and if your total net worth was a small shack at the side of a track, 130 00:14:09,760 –> 00:14:14,239 and a couple of buffalo, you would understand that absolutely clearly. 131 00:14:16,000 –> 00:14:20,320 But it is very hard for us to understand this Bible principle 132 00:14:20,320 –> 00:14:25,440 living in the northwest suburbs. You see, we are so blessed 133 00:14:25,440 –> 00:14:33,280 that we easily confuse this with paradise. 134 00:14:33,280 –> 00:14:37,119 We think that if we’re not in paradise now, we’re nearly there, 135 00:14:37,119 –> 00:14:41,440 and if we just have a little bit more, we will be. 136 00:14:41,840 –> 00:14:45,520 I enjoyed the testimony of one of our high schoolers a few years ago, now 137 00:14:45,520 –> 00:14:48,719 coming back from the Jamaica trip. She’d been greatly helped, and it had had a 138 00:14:48,719 –> 00:14:52,080 profound impact on her life. She said, you know, 139 00:14:52,080 –> 00:14:57,760 it really helped me to go to Jamaica because my idea of suffering 140 00:14:57,760 –> 00:15:04,880 before I went was not getting a new car at graduation. Now, 141 00:15:04,880 –> 00:15:11,280 we smile and we understand that and it was good for her to go, 142 00:15:12,000 –> 00:15:15,359 but you see, we’re living in a culture that is sold 143 00:15:15,919 –> 00:15:18,159 the pursuit of paradise now. 144 00:15:20,479 –> 00:15:22,080 And if you give yourself, 145 00:15:22,080 –> 00:15:25,359 whatever age you are, high schooler or at any other stage of life, 146 00:15:25,919 –> 00:15:29,840 if you give yourself to the pursuit of paradise now, 147 00:15:30,400 –> 00:15:32,640 you will be disappointed. 148 00:15:34,400 –> 00:15:36,159 You will live in disappointment. 149 00:15:38,640 –> 00:15:40,960 And when that happens, I’ll tell you what you’ll do. 150 00:15:40,960 –> 00:15:43,039 You’ll be angry with God because you’ll say, 151 00:15:43,039 –> 00:15:44,799 God, you haven’t fulfilled my dream. 152 00:15:46,080 –> 00:15:46,880 That’s what you’ll say. 153 00:15:47,840 –> 00:15:50,479 And that is what a great number of people in our culture 154 00:15:50,479 –> 00:15:52,799 who call themselves Christians are right now. 155 00:15:54,080 –> 00:15:54,880 It’s where we are. 156 00:15:56,400 –> 00:15:59,440 And God has one word to say to us about all of this, 157 00:15:59,440 –> 00:16:01,919 and it’s the word, wait. 158 00:16:04,400 –> 00:16:04,719 Wait. 159 00:16:06,640 –> 00:16:11,359 You will not find paradise in this world. 160 00:16:12,320 –> 00:16:15,919 You have to get that into your head if you’re going to be a Christian believer. 161 00:16:18,239 –> 00:16:23,679 It is a fundamental point at which the bible and our culture are in headlong opposition. 162 00:16:23,679 –> 00:16:28,799 You will not find paradise in this world. 163 00:16:31,919 –> 00:16:33,039 Now, I’ve got a little idea. 164 00:16:33,039 –> 00:16:35,200 Here’s a practical suggestion for you. 165 00:16:36,080 –> 00:16:39,679 I’ve been thinking that we could design a little sign 166 00:16:39,679 –> 00:16:43,840 —a little SIGN— and it would say on it four words, 167 00:16:44,719 –> 00:16:47,679 This is not paradise. 168 00:16:49,440 –> 00:16:53,679 And I’m going to ask you to be creative in your minds now—and you can talk about 169 00:16:53,679 –> 00:16:58,479 this over lunch— as to all kinds of places where you could put this SIGN. 170 00:16:59,679 –> 00:17:02,799 This is not paradise. 171 00:17:03,919 –> 00:17:08,000 I mean, you might want to hang it over the front door of your home, 172 00:17:08,400 –> 00:17:10,719 and it would greatly help you. 173 00:17:11,359 –> 00:17:18,239 Because some of us are so sold out on the pursuit of this perfect family life, 174 00:17:18,239 –> 00:17:20,640 which we cannot attain within this world, 175 00:17:20,640 –> 00:17:23,599 that we become utterly crushing for everyone around us. 176 00:17:23,599 –> 00:17:26,479 Take a great deal of pressure off you. 177 00:17:26,479 –> 00:17:28,640 If you could just acknowledge the truth of the bible 178 00:17:28,640 –> 00:17:34,400 and put a little sign over that says, This is not paradise. 179 00:17:35,359 –> 00:17:39,040 You could put it over your desk at work. 180 00:17:41,280 –> 00:17:43,599 You could put it in your new car. 181 00:17:45,280 –> 00:17:48,000 Because it would really help you when you’re there on the Kennedy 182 00:17:48,000 –> 00:17:50,000 and you’re so frustrated with this marvelous car 183 00:17:50,000 –> 00:17:52,239 and you can’t go anywhere because you’re in a traffic jam. 184 00:17:53,920 –> 00:17:57,599 I’d be more than happy to put it on the entrance to the church here. 185 00:17:57,599 –> 00:17:58,959 This is not paradise. 186 00:17:58,959 –> 00:18:02,079 If you came here looking for perfect believers and a perfect church, 187 00:18:02,079 –> 00:18:03,439 you certainly haven’t found it. 188 00:18:03,520 –> 00:18:04,959 You have come to the wrong place. 189 00:18:04,959 –> 00:18:06,959 Keep looking, but you’ll be very disappointed. 190 00:18:10,079 –> 00:18:12,479 Some couples might want to put it over the door to the bedroom. 191 00:18:14,239 –> 00:18:15,439 Take a lot of pressure off. 192 00:18:18,400 –> 00:18:20,800 Now, kids might want to put it over the door to their bedroom. 193 00:18:23,839 –> 00:18:26,000 This is not paradise. 194 00:18:28,640 –> 00:18:32,800 But the problem is, that many of us think it should be, 195 00:18:33,839 –> 00:18:35,119 because we don’t believe the Bible. 196 00:18:37,439 –> 00:18:40,319 We expect more than God has promised in this life, 197 00:18:40,319 –> 00:18:43,760 and the result is that we live at a level of constant frustration 198 00:18:43,760 –> 00:18:45,359 and constant disappointment. 199 00:18:46,640 –> 00:18:50,239 The baseline for us, the baseline, 200 00:18:50,239 –> 00:18:52,880 is health, and wealth, and emotional fulfilment, 201 00:18:52,880 –> 00:18:56,079 to be loved, to be honoured, to be appreciated. 202 00:18:56,079 –> 00:18:59,199 We want the sinners around us to be saints, 203 00:18:59,199 –> 00:19:00,560 but at the same time, of course, 204 00:19:00,560 –> 00:19:03,599 we want the saints around us to understand that we are sinners. 205 00:19:03,599 –> 00:19:05,680 We want to work the minimum number of hours 206 00:19:05,680 –> 00:19:07,359 for the maximum amount of pay. 207 00:19:07,359 –> 00:19:09,359 We want it to be absolutely fulfilling work. 208 00:19:09,359 –> 00:19:11,760 We want larger cars, larger homes, 209 00:19:11,760 –> 00:19:13,520 more luxurious vacations. 210 00:19:13,520 –> 00:19:17,680 And, in the pursuit of creating this paradise on earth, 211 00:19:17,680 –> 00:19:21,280 we run up massive debt – massive debt. 212 00:19:23,920 –> 00:19:25,520 And then we find out 213 00:19:25,520 –> 00:19:28,880 that the paradise that was promised has eluded us. 214 00:19:31,199 –> 00:19:33,439 That it was an advertiser’s dream. 215 00:19:35,040 –> 00:19:37,040 It faded with the commercials. 216 00:19:39,280 –> 00:19:41,680 We find ourselves living under a burden. 217 00:19:43,520 –> 00:19:44,959 And we don’t know how we got there. 218 00:19:44,959 –> 00:19:48,880 We got there because we didn’t believe the Bible. 219 00:19:51,280 –> 00:19:53,599 There’s a song that I’ve found profoundly helpful 220 00:19:53,599 –> 00:19:54,719 in keeping the balance 221 00:19:54,719 –> 00:19:58,880 between enjoying the blessings of this world 222 00:19:58,880 –> 00:20:00,479 and anticipating the blessings 223 00:20:00,479 –> 00:20:01,040 that are to come. 224 00:20:01,040 –> 00:20:02,959 I’m gonna read just three verses of it. 225 00:20:02,959 –> 00:20:03,839 I hope you can follow it. 226 00:20:03,839 –> 00:20:08,160 It’s an old song, but it is wonderfully penetrating 227 00:20:09,520 –> 00:20:11,119 in its understanding. 228 00:20:11,920 –> 00:20:12,959 Listen to these words. 229 00:20:14,319 –> 00:20:17,040 My God, I thank you 230 00:20:17,920 –> 00:20:20,319 who has made the earth so bright, 231 00:20:21,520 –> 00:20:23,199 so full of splendor, 232 00:20:23,199 –> 00:20:26,000 full of joy, radiance, and light. 233 00:20:27,439 –> 00:20:30,319 So many glorious things are here, 234 00:20:31,359 –> 00:20:33,359 noble and right. 235 00:20:35,040 –> 00:20:36,239 Then he goes on to say this. 236 00:20:37,520 –> 00:20:38,560 I thank you, too, 237 00:20:40,000 –> 00:20:43,760 that all our joy is touched with pain, 238 00:20:45,119 –> 00:20:48,079 that shadows fall on brightest hours 239 00:20:49,199 –> 00:20:51,839 and thorns remain, 240 00:20:51,839 –> 00:20:55,839 so that earth’s joys may be our guide 241 00:20:56,880 –> 00:20:58,160 and not our chain. 242 00:20:59,040 –> 00:21:01,520 That’s all the difference in the world between these two things. 243 00:21:03,760 –> 00:21:08,880 I thank you, Lord, that you have kept the best in store. 244 00:21:10,239 –> 00:21:15,599 We have enough, but not too much to long for more. 245 00:21:18,160 –> 00:21:25,199 A yearning for a fuller life not known before. 246 00:21:25,199 –> 00:21:31,680 Some of us have no vision of a fuller life than we know right now, except in material terms. 247 00:21:35,280 –> 00:21:39,599 Now, when God does not give you what you want, 248 00:21:41,760 –> 00:21:47,920 in this world and this culture where we have so much, when God does not give you what you want, 249 00:21:47,920 –> 00:21:54,479 He opens a door of critical opportunity for your spiritual growth. 250 00:21:56,000 –> 00:21:58,880 And I want to encourage you here, embrace that pain. 251 00:22:00,959 –> 00:22:07,280 Love God in that disappointment. Recognize that in our world of abundance, this may be one of 252 00:22:07,280 –> 00:22:14,800 the most important junctures in your Christian life. Here is one place where you have the 253 00:22:14,800 –> 00:22:23,119 opportunity to detach yourself from the headlong pursuit of paradise in this world and to set 254 00:22:23,119 –> 00:22:30,640 yourself apart for Jesus Christ as Lord. And the places where you may have that opportunity 255 00:22:30,640 –> 00:22:37,520 in this life may be relatively few. So seize them. Grasp them. They are critical 256 00:22:38,640 –> 00:22:43,839 to your spiritual fitness. The places where God calls you to wait 257 00:22:45,040 –> 00:22:50,319 are of great importance in your Christian life. This is a wake-up call to reality that God is 258 00:22:50,319 –> 00:22:56,400 giving you. There are discoveries of grace that you can make while you are waiting, that you 259 00:22:56,400 –> 00:23:00,880 will never make, while you’re careering on your way with everything fulfilled. 260 00:23:02,079 –> 00:23:08,079 Paul says in Romans chapter 8 in verse 24 that hope that is seen is not hope at all. You see, 261 00:23:08,079 –> 00:23:12,239 that’s the reason why many of us have such a little sense of hope that everything around us 262 00:23:12,239 –> 00:23:17,680 is seen. We’ve not got the sense of what yet lies ahead. Who hopes for what he already has? 263 00:23:19,520 –> 00:23:27,359 But if we hope for what we do not have, we wait for it patiently. What you do not have 264 00:23:28,800 –> 00:23:36,560 is the place where God will do a deep work in your life. So grow in patience 265 00:23:36,800 –> 00:23:46,880 as you embrace the disappointments of your life. You see, if God should grant that thing that 266 00:23:46,880 –> 00:23:51,119 you’re waiting for right now, your opportunity to grow through it will be gone the day that 267 00:23:51,119 –> 00:23:58,000 He gives it to you. The opportunity to grow through it is now. It’s now while you’re waiting. 268 00:23:58,319 –> 00:24:06,079 Thank you. Secondly, grow in hope. First was grow in patience as you 269 00:24:06,079 –> 00:24:12,239 embrace the disappointments of life. Secondly, grow in hope as you cultivate 270 00:24:13,040 –> 00:24:17,199 the anticipation of heaven. Notice the verse again, Jude says, 271 00:24:17,199 –> 00:24:21,119 Wait for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. 272 00:24:21,119 –> 00:24:25,459 And he is reminding us, of course, that the large part of the Christian life 273 00:24:25,459 –> 00:24:33,140 is to be one of anticipation. The Bible speaks of believers as being like the bride of Christ. 274 00:24:33,140 –> 00:24:40,739 So the whole of your Christian life is to be viewed as a bride-to be would view an engagement, 275 00:24:41,699 –> 00:24:46,819 as if you were married remember engagement. Karen and I were engaged for, what, eight months, 276 00:24:48,339 –> 00:24:53,219 and you’re counting days, aren’t you? I mean the whole of your life when you’re engaged is geared 277 00:24:53,300 –> 00:24:59,300 towards the day. Now, it says Paul, that’s what it’s like to be the church of Jesus Christ, 278 00:24:59,300 –> 00:25:06,180 if you’re a believer you are engaged to Jesus Christ. The life is all about what happens after 279 00:25:06,180 –> 00:25:11,459 the day when you stand with Him and you are united with Him and you enter into the life that He will 280 00:25:11,459 –> 00:25:17,540 bring you into. So that’s our whole perspective on life, if we’ve understood what the Bible is 281 00:25:17,540 –> 00:25:29,459 saying to us. Now, I’ve wondered—and it remains heavy upon my heart—why is it 282 00:25:31,140 –> 00:25:35,459 that believers in India, for example, to take one place that I’ve enjoyed visiting, 283 00:25:36,500 –> 00:25:41,060 why is it that believers in India have a much more lively anticipation of heaven 284 00:25:41,939 –> 00:25:46,979 than believers in Europe or America? I mean, frankly, when we get interested in what’s 285 00:25:46,979 –> 00:25:50,500 gonna happen after the return of Jesus Christ, we get interested in what happens to those who 286 00:25:50,500 –> 00:25:54,660 are left behind and what happens to those who go. Isn’t that interesting? But why is it that 287 00:25:54,660 –> 00:26:03,540 believers in India have a stronger anticipation of life with Jesus Christ—a greater joy in 288 00:26:03,540 –> 00:26:11,060 the anticipation of it than we do here or in Europe? And the answer is very simply, that 289 00:26:11,060 –> 00:26:18,180 if we expect more than God has promised now, we will anticipate less than he has promised then. 290 00:26:19,380 –> 00:26:30,260 If we expect more than God has promised now, we will anticipate less than he has promised then. 291 00:26:31,459 –> 00:26:35,699 Now, take a risk with this balloon here. I’m very afraid it’s gonna go pop. 292 00:26:36,819 –> 00:26:39,780 But you see, if I divide this balloon here, 293 00:26:41,459 –> 00:26:46,020 and we think of it as being divided between what God has given to us now 294 00:26:47,380 –> 00:26:53,380 and what God has promised to us in the future. If I inflate my expectations of what God has 295 00:26:53,380 –> 00:27:03,540 promised now, what do I do at the same time? I diminish my expectation of what God is promising 296 00:27:03,540 –> 00:27:10,180 for the future. What is the only way to increase my anticipation of what lies in the future? 297 00:27:10,180 –> 00:27:16,979 It is to deflate my expectations now, that’s the only way, and with these massive expectations of 298 00:27:16,979 –> 00:27:24,020 life now, we have minimal expectation of what lies ahead. It’s why we’re so disappointed, 299 00:27:25,699 –> 00:27:29,859 so frustrated. That’s why we’re out of spiritual shape. 300 00:27:33,380 –> 00:27:39,699 Now look at the verse closely with me for a moment and think about this. Jude talks about 301 00:27:39,699 –> 00:27:47,219 three things in this verse. He talks about mercy, he talks about Jesus, 302 00:27:48,660 –> 00:27:55,699 and he talks about eternal life. Now, here’s a question. Think about it biblically. 303 00:27:57,140 –> 00:28:06,500 Do you have God’s mercy now? What do you think? Some nods, but you think I’m tricking you, 304 00:28:06,500 –> 00:28:11,699 I’m not. I’m just, honestly, trying to help here, okay? Now, give us a confident answer here. 305 00:28:12,420 –> 00:28:22,180 Do you have God’s mercy now? Okay. Do you have Jesus Christ now? Yes. 306 00:28:23,859 –> 00:28:28,979 Now, think of John chapter 17, verse 3, I’m giving you a hint, so you get this one 307 00:28:28,979 –> 00:28:32,979 right too because we’re going down the same line. Do you have eternal life now? 308 00:28:33,780 –> 00:28:37,699 Yes. Thank you. We’re well into that understanding that eternal life, 309 00:28:37,699 –> 00:28:41,459 in its very essence, is to know God and Jesus Christ. And so, it begins right now. 310 00:28:42,660 –> 00:28:46,260 So, I have mercy now. I have Jesus Christ now. And 311 00:28:46,260 –> 00:28:51,140 I have eternal life now. So why? Why? Why does Jude tell me to wait? 312 00:28:54,500 –> 00:28:58,180 Now, you see, this is teaching us something that is profoundly important. 313 00:28:58,260 –> 00:29:03,099 That you have the mercy of God now. You have Jesus Christ by the 314 00:29:03,099 –> 00:29:06,060 Holy Spirit now. You have eternal life, begun within you now. 315 00:29:06,060 –> 00:29:09,420 But everything that you can know, and every blessing in this life, 316 00:29:09,420 –> 00:29:14,060 and everything that you can experience of God right now is only a taste 317 00:29:15,900 –> 00:29:18,219 of what God has in store for you. 318 00:29:19,579 –> 00:29:24,219 So, when we think of the promises of God now, and the promises of God for the future, 319 00:29:24,219 –> 00:29:27,020 where are we to make the cut? As it were, is it’s at a roughly 50-50? 320 00:29:28,739 –> 00:29:33,459 Or is it as many people feel, you know, that we have the abundance of God’s blessing now, 321 00:29:33,459 –> 00:29:36,500 and a residual peace in a sort of shadowy life afterwards? No. 322 00:29:38,500 –> 00:29:41,859 The Bible tells us in Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 14 323 00:29:43,459 –> 00:29:52,260 that the Holy Spirit is given to us as a deposit, guaranteeing our inheritance—a deposit. 324 00:29:53,619 –> 00:29:57,780 Now those of you who are in the process or recently bought your first house, 325 00:29:58,739 –> 00:30:07,619 and the rest of us who can remember, was the deposit the largest part of the price? 326 00:30:08,900 –> 00:30:11,939 I’m talking to normal folks now, you know, I mean, there may be one or two. 327 00:30:13,219 –> 00:30:17,060 You know, you wrote out half for the deposit and half on the mortgage. Look, 328 00:30:17,859 –> 00:30:23,380 deposit was that much, wasn’t it? The mortgage was massive. 329 00:30:24,180 –> 00:30:27,219 Now he says, Paul, that that’s how you have to think, that the Holy Spirit, 330 00:30:27,219 –> 00:30:31,540 and he’s talking about every blessing, every highest moment of worship, 331 00:30:31,540 –> 00:30:36,579 every experience of God that you have in this life, every blessing that is poured in, 332 00:30:36,579 –> 00:30:43,780 every pleasure, is a tiny deposit. It is a tiny anticipation of what is yet to come. 333 00:30:47,780 –> 00:30:48,579 Grow in hope. 334 00:30:48,579 –> 00:30:54,900 Hope as you cultivate the anticipation of what God has promised. 335 00:30:56,979 –> 00:31:02,579 And, you see, the disappointments of this life will be the places where you’re most able to do that. 336 00:31:04,020 –> 00:31:08,579 You see, when God describes what He has in store for us, He does it like this in the Book of 337 00:31:08,579 –> 00:31:14,260 Revelation. God will wipe away every tear from your eyes. Now, the only time you can really 338 00:31:14,339 –> 00:31:20,339 understand the glory of that is when you’ve got tears in your eyes. There’ll be no more death, 339 00:31:20,339 –> 00:31:24,579 no more mourning, no more crying, no more pain. The only times you can really understand 340 00:31:24,579 –> 00:31:29,939 the glory of that is when you’re in pain, when you find yourself alone, 341 00:31:31,780 –> 00:31:38,500 you find that the bottom has fallen out of your life. Use these painful moments 342 00:31:38,500 –> 00:31:50,180 to increase your anticipation of what God has promised. Think about what life will be like 343 00:31:50,180 –> 00:31:56,020 in the presence of the Lord Jesus when all His purpose is fulfilled. Your body will be redeemed. 344 00:31:56,579 –> 00:32:07,780 Your body will be redeemed. Your relationships will be whole. Your soul will be free to serve 345 00:32:07,780 –> 00:32:16,739 God with all you are. The creation itself will be renewed, and you will be completely at home 346 00:32:16,739 –> 00:32:24,739 in the presence of God. So, you see, waiting is not wasted time. Waiting is the place where God 347 00:32:24,739 –> 00:32:30,180 does deep things within our own souls. Growth in patience as you embrace the disappointments of 348 00:32:30,180 –> 00:32:37,140 life. Growth in hope as you cultivate anticipation of heaven. And finally, grow in worship 349 00:32:38,819 –> 00:32:47,619 as you love God in pain as well as in pleasure. See, waiting on God is a wonderful, wonderful 350 00:32:47,619 –> 00:32:56,739 expression of worship. Waiting on God. Waiting on God. Think of that phrase, waiting on God. 351 00:32:56,819 –> 00:33:02,420 Waiting on God. Think about this next time you’re in a restaurant. 352 00:33:04,420 –> 00:33:11,939 We call the person who comes to your table with the menus a waiter or a waitress. Their job is 353 00:33:11,939 –> 00:33:20,099 to wait on you. They have no other agenda, they have no other priority. Their business is to wait 354 00:33:20,180 –> 00:33:27,219 you. They take your order. They bring your food. They stop by to check if everything is in order 355 00:33:27,219 –> 00:33:33,780 about five minutes after you’ve started eating it. Now, you see, some folks have the idea that 356 00:33:33,780 –> 00:33:40,900 God is there to wait on us, and the Bible puts it entirely the other way around. 357 00:33:41,859 –> 00:33:49,540 My calling is to wait on God. The purpose of my life is to make myself, like a waiter, 358 00:33:49,540 –> 00:33:54,739 wholly available to Jesus Christ the guest who has come into this world, 359 00:33:56,979 –> 00:34:03,540 and the waiter, or the waitress, never takes center stage. That’s very important. 360 00:34:03,540 –> 00:34:11,300 The waiter never takes center stage. Karina and I took some friends out a few months ago to a 361 00:34:11,300 –> 00:34:18,979 restaurant. I won’t mention which one. And it was really rather frustrating because we had an 362 00:34:18,979 –> 00:34:28,500 over-friendly waiter, and this person came and found out the names of our guests, wanted to know, 363 00:34:28,820 –> 00:34:35,459 where they were from, and so forth. And that was fine. But every time this person came back 364 00:34:35,459 –> 00:34:39,219 we had five minutes of conversation in which they told us something about their life. 365 00:34:40,340 –> 00:34:46,739 Now, one seeks to be friendly, but we had actually gone there to have a quiet conversation, 366 00:34:47,540 –> 00:34:49,939 and it kind of got to the point, can you understand this, where you thought, 367 00:34:49,939 –> 00:34:53,699 oh dear, here they come again, you know? This is going to be five minutes and all 368 00:34:53,699 –> 00:34:58,419 we want is a refill on a glass of water, you know? And you know I noticed 369 00:34:59,620 –> 00:35:06,260 that this person is no longer working in the restaurant. I wonder why. Because, you see, 370 00:35:06,260 –> 00:35:14,820 the waiter tried to place himself center stage, took over—was about me. 371 00:35:16,899 –> 00:35:21,699 Now, when I learn to wait on God, I will no longer put myself, my needs, 372 00:35:21,699 –> 00:35:29,699 my wants, center stage. I’m here to wait on God. And Jesus gives to every one of us the perfect 373 00:35:29,699 –> 00:35:34,100 model, of course, as to what this looks like. He delights in the will of the Father. And he’s 374 00:35:34,100 –> 00:35:41,459 ready to do it, whatever it involves, even if it involves a cross. And he tells plainly, 375 00:35:41,459 –> 00:35:48,580 if you want to follow me, don’t expect a trouble-free life. If you want to follow me, he 376 00:35:48,580 –> 00:35:57,699 says, take up your cross, even in America. I’m not offering you Paradise Now. I’m asking, do you 377 00:35:57,699 –> 00:36:04,179 want to follow me through this life, with its pain? With its disappointment? With its pleasure? 378 00:36:04,979 –> 00:36:11,379 With its joy? With its unfathomable mysteries? With it’s unanswered questions? With its unfinished 379 00:36:11,379 –> 00:36:15,620 business? Its unresolved problems? Its unreconciled differences? 380 00:36:15,620 –> 00:36:20,580 Will you take up your cross and follow me in this life? 381 00:36:24,260 –> 00:36:28,500 And saying, yes, to Jesus in the disappointments of your life 382 00:36:29,780 –> 00:36:34,580 will be just about the highest worship you can ever offer to God. Because t’s your way 383 00:36:34,580 –> 00:36:39,620 of saying, I’m not interested in you, O Lord, simply because of your gifts, 384 00:36:40,179 –> 00:36:48,020 I love you for who you are. And how can you ever state that, except out of 385 00:36:48,020 –> 00:36:53,620 your disappointment? If all your dreams were fulfilled, all your prayers answered, everything 386 00:36:53,620 –> 00:36:58,419 in your life was as you wanted it to be, how could it ever be known and declared that you 387 00:36:58,419 –> 00:37:08,260 truly love God and not just His gifts? So I want you to think in this last moment of the great 388 00:37:08,260 –> 00:37:17,699 disappointments of your life now. I want you to think of the heartfelt prayers not yet answered, 389 00:37:19,300 –> 00:37:22,979 the great longings of your soul not yet satisfied, 390 00:37:25,219 –> 00:37:32,500 and I want you to see them as an open door into God’s gymnasium. 391 00:37:32,500 –> 00:37:47,860 He’s saying to you, you want this to be over. I want this to be useful.