United Church of God

It's Worth the Wait

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It's Worth the Wait

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It's Worth the Wait

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Listen to this sermon to learn why it's so important to wait on God continually, and to keep justice, mercy and faith. There are great rewards in store for those who wait on God continually!

Sermon Notes

It’s Worth the Wait!

 

Intro:

[Backpacking into the High Sierras and the Olympic Mountains with dad and mom.  Relate experience – focus on dad’s warning to not run up the trail and conserve my energy.  He also instructed me to stay within sight, and to wait on him and mom.  Sure enough, I ended up running out of steam way too early in the all day hike, and lagging behind my parents, asking “are we almost there dad?” several times!  Sort of a replay of the children’s story “the tortoise and the hare.”]

[Relate story of buying a necklace for a girl I had a crush on, in spite of my parents warning not too!  They warned me that they would stop my allowance if I bought any jewelry for a girl].

SPS – Today we’re going to learn what it means to wait on God continually.

 

Wait on Your God Continually

(Hos 12:6)  Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually (KJV).

(Hos 12:6)  People of Jacob, you must return to your God. You must hold on to love and do what is fair. You must trust in your God always (New International reader’s Version, (NIrV).

(Hos 12:6)  But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always (NIV).

(Hos 12:6)  So you, by the help of your God, return; Observe mercy and justice, And wait on your God continually (NKJV).

(Hos 12:6)  So now, come back to your God. Act with love and justice, and always depend on him (NLT).

 

Wait on Your God Continually

The KJV translation of the last phrase at the end of the verse is “…and wait on thy God continually.”  This is closely followed by the NKJV translation with “…And wait on your God continually.”

The NIrV provides an interesting difference in its translation with the phrase “You must trust in your God always.” The NIrV translation indicates to wait on God is to trust God, and to wait on God continually is to always trust God.

The NIV translation stays with translating the word “continually” to “always” as does the NIrV.

The NLT version also goes with “always” instead of continually and they translate “wait on God” to “always depend on Him.”

 Observe Mercy and Justice

The KJV phrase is “to keep mercy and judgment.”

The NKJV translates to “observe mercy and justice.”

The NIrV translates “you must hold on to love and do what is fair.”  This is a bit of a stretch; however, love is part of mercy, and judgment should be impartial, or fair.

The NIV translates “to maintain love and justice.”

The NLT translates “Act with love and justice.”

The Hebrew word for “mercy” is “chesed” (H2617), and stems from a root word “chasad” (H2616) meaning kindness.  In essence, mercy is a loving-kindness.

The Hebrew word for “justice” is “mishpawt” (H4941), which means a verdict, whether favorable or unfavorable.  This comes from the root word “shaphat” (H8199) “to judge” as in vindicate or punish.

The Amplified Bible translation follows:

12:6  Therefore return to your God! Hold fast to love {and} mercy, to righteousness {and} justice, and wait [expectantly] for your God continually!

This translation is one of my favorites as it gives the emphasis of waiting on God as something that we do “expectantly.” 

What does “expectantly” mean? The Oxford University Press online dictionary at www.en.oxforddictionaries.com  defines the meaning of the adverb “expectantly” as, “with an excited feeling that something is about to happen, especially something good.”

Why should we wait on God?   Doesn’t He teach us that something amazing and exciting is about to happen?  Waiting on God to keep His promises should be easy, right?  We know that He will do what He says!  What is that?  He is the God of our salvation!  He will give us eternal life in His family.  This should give us the motivation to wait expectantly, to expect God to keep His promises and believe that He will do what He says.

It is so important that we wait on God continually.  That we do not let Satan dissuade us from keeping our eye on the prize.

The United Church of God (UCG) Bible Commentary states the following:

Hosea instructs Israel, "Observe mercy and justice, and wait on your God continually." Micah, writing around this same time, says basically the same thing: "What does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8). And, much later, Jesus Christ referred to these essential qualities of character as the "weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith" (Matthew 23:23). Thus, true faith constitutes waiting on God and walking humbly with Him.

It appears that waiting on our God means we must always trust in Him and continue in our faith by submitting to His will consistently.  A key piece of waiting on God is to “observe justice and mercy, (as in Hosea 12:6), and “faith” is added by Jesus Christ in Matthew 23:23.

Some of the ABC classes are recorded and accessible to us online.  I highly recommend you check it out and listen to at least a few.  My wife and I have been listening to a class titled “Fundamentals of Theology” taught by Dr. Ward (http://abc.ucg.org/courses).  In one class titled “Reason,” which I believe is the third class in the series, he said there are four great enemies of faith, (Reference Ephesians 6:16).  The first enemy, or “fiery arrow” is “Anxious Care,” and Dr. Ward cites Matthew 6:25-34.

The Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans Under the Command of Titus, A.D. 70, by David Roberts (1850), shows the city burning (Public domain)

David Roberts - http://www.preteristarchive.com/ARTchive/1850_roberts_destruction-jerusalem.html

 

Why this picture?  The Romans were known to use ancient thermal weapons, and that included the limited use of archers that would loose fiery arrows on the enemy.  Archers were not the primary offensive weapon of the Roman army, however they were known to use them in sea battles to set the enemies ships on fire.  They used ‘throwing machines’ when attacking cities, such as Jerusalem.

This picture of Jerusalem burning reminded me that that is where the Temple was, and it was destroyed by Titus in 70 AD, just as Jesus Christ prophesied:

(Mat 24:1)  Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple.

(Mat 24:2)  And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down."

Anxious Care – Anxious care is a form of self-directed needs.  Sometimes we tend to focus on worrying about things that are not working out they way we want them to.  The Jews were so focused on how they appeared and gaining the respect and adulation of others that they fell prey to “Anxious Care.”  They expected God to bend to their will, instead of humbly submitting to His will.  They wanted worldly rewards instead of having faith in God’s promises of eternal life and depending, or waiting on Him through humble obedience.  They were distracted by Satan’s fiery missile of anxious care, and decided to choose their own shield of a false faith in themselves for a defense instead of God’s shield of faith.

 

When I saw the picture of the painting of the siege and destruction of Jerusalem, I thought of some possible comparisons to our lives and the physical Temple that was destroyed by Titus and his Roman legions.

 

[Note: Reference https://weaponsandwarfare.com/2015/12/22/siege-of-jerusalem-70-ad/ -- Many comparisons/allegories!]

 

A little background: “Forces engaged: Roman Commander Titus had 70,000 men at his disposal.  The Jews had three factions, with 15,000 men under Simon Bar-giora; 6,000 men under John of Gischala, and 2,400 men under Eleazar.”

 

Prior to Commander Titus’s siege of Jerusalem the Jewish Zealots (Jewish factions) had managed to route a legion of Romans under the command of Cestius Gallus, after the Zealots had seized control of Jerusalem. 

 

“The Zealots now held siege machinery and had received a major boost in their confidence.  Any hope of negotiated peace was gone, but the Zealots could not capitalize on their early success.  Instead, they quarreled among themselves, to the point of combat, and did little to prepare themselves for a war against Rome.  They were rebels, and not soldiers, and the leadership and discipline necessary to train and prepare did not exist.”

 

When Titus arrived and began his siege of Jerusalem, he had a few minor setbacks when the Zealots managed to repel the Roman attack a few times.  The Zealots would build inner defensive walls, so when the Romans battered their way through one wall they faced another defensive wall.  Would you believe that during these lulls between Roman attacks the Jews stopped being united and fought with each other!

 

As you know, it did not end well, and this Roman destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple began the great “diaspora” with the Jews no longer having a homeland.

 

The Jews were so busy fighting with each other, and relying on their faith in themselves and their particular factions beliefs they lost everything.  They were betraying and killing each other in the middle of fighting the occupying Romans!

 

Let’s Return to Christ’s Olivet Prophecy

 

(Mat 24:3)  Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"

(Mat 24:4)  And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you.

(Mat 24:5)  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.

(Mat 24:6)  And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

(Mat 24:7)  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.

(Mat 24:8)  All these are the beginning of sorrows.

(Mat 24:9)  "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake.

(Mat 24:10)  And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.

(Mat 24:11)  Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.

(Mat 24:12)  And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.

(Mat 24:13)  But he who endures to the end shall be saved.

(Mat 24:14)  And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Remember Hosea instructs Israel, "Observe mercy and justice, and wait on your God continually." Micah, writing around this same time, says basically the same thing: "What does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8). And, much later, Jesus Christ referred to these essential qualities of character as the "weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith" (Matthew 23:23). Thus, true faith constitutes waiting on God and walking humbly with Him.

We are temples of God’s Holy Spirit:

(1Co 3:16)  Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

Just like the Pharisees and the Jews of their day, our “temple of God” can be sacked and burned to the ground if we do not studiously avoid the same attitudes and behaviors the Pharisees and Scribes had.

(Mat 23:5)  But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.

(Mat 23:23)  "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.

(Mat 23:25)  "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.

(Mat 23:27)  "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.

(Mat 23:28)  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

 

When we wait and depend on the LORD, we walk humbly before our God (Micah 6:8) and seek approval through obedience and faith in Him instead of following our own self-willed ways, and seeking the approval and petty adulations of man!

 

Matthew 6:25-34

My NKJV translation (App called “e-sword – the Sword of the LORD with an electronic edge”) has a heading for this section of scripture titled “Do Not be Anxious.”

Vines Complete Expository Dictionary defines “care” as used in “anxious care” as something that draws in different directions, or something that distracts.

 

God does not want our desire and need for physical things to become our false god.  Jesus is basically teaching us that we must focus on our relationship with Him and the Father first and foremost, and if we do that God will meet all of our needs.

 

Matthew 13:22, (Relate story of man that won a lotto and cashed out for $150 million, bought a house for his mother and then headed to Las Vegas with his millions!)

 

Luke 21:34, (It’s so important that we do not fall into the same trap as the lotto winner, and lose patience while waiting on God and His reward of eternal life that He has waiting for us!)

Don’t fall into the bad habit of giving in to Anxious Care, but rather submit yourselves under the loving care of our Lord God.

 

God gives us some beautiful scriptures of encouragement and instruction regarding waiting on the LORD. He also shows the benefits and rewards involved when we wait on Him.

 

Key Elements Involved When We Wait on God

 

Psalm 40:1, 17 – wait patiently and God will listen, You are my help and my deliverer.

Psalm 25:3, 15 – let none that wait on thee be ashamed, My eyes are ever toward the LORD.

Psalm 27:14 – wait on the Lord and be of good courage, and He will strengthen your heart!

Psalm 37:9 – wait on the Lord and you shall inherit the earth!

Psalm 130:5 – wait for the Lord and find hope in His word.

Isa 25:9 – wait for the Lord, and He will save us

Isa 40:31 – Those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength: they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run.

Lamentations 3:25 – The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul that seeks Him

Hebrews 9:28 – Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.  To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation (!).

 

Don’t be like ancient Israel than continually chose to NOT wait on God – after God rescued them from slavery in Egypt with His might hand, they continually rebelled, and became impatient! 

 

(Num 14:22-23)  because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, (Num 14:23)  they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it.

  1. Trapped between the Red Sea and Pharaoh’s army, they cry out to the LORD and complain to Moses – did you just bring us out here to die! (Exodus 14:10-12)
  2. The Israelites find no water for three days in the Wilderness of Shur, and then come to the waters of Marah and complain because the water is bitter (Exodus 15:22-24).
  3. Israel complains and accuses Moses and Aaron of bringing them out to the wilderness to kill them with hunger, and saying they had it better in Egypt! (Exodus 16:1-3).
  4. God provides the amazing manna from heaven to Israel with specific instructions about how to collect it, when to collect it, and how much to collect, and of course some completely ignored the instructions! (Exodus 16:11-20)
  5. God instructs Israel to gather twice as much manna on the sixth-day, telling Israel He would preserve the manna for the Sabbath as they were not to collect manna on the Sabbath, and besides that, no manna would be there for collecting (Exodus 16:25-30).
  6. Once again, Israel complains to Moses, accusing him of bringing them out to the wilderness to die of thirst! (Exodus 17:1-7).
  7. Israel completely rejects God and along with Aaron make a golden calf and engage in pagan revelry when Moses is receiving God’s laws and instruction for 40-days (Exodus 32:1-9).
  8. Just a few days after departing from Mt. Sinai Israel complains again about their hardship, and God destroys some of them by fire in the outskirts of the camp (Numbers 11:1-3).
  9. Soon after God kills some Israelites by fire for complaining, even more Israelites complain because they wanted meat.  Then when God brought them meat, (and how!), they engaged in gluttony and God smote them with a great plague! (Numbers 11:4-34)

 

  1. They got right to the border of the Promised Land and did not have faith in God that He would indeed give them that land flowing with milk and honey, and conquer their enemies for them!  WE ARE AT THE BORDER OF THE PROMISED LAND.  DO NOT GIVE UP NOW.  WAIT ON GOD CONTINUALLY, AND HE WILL REWARD YOU.

 

 

Conclusion: 1 Peter 5:6-7

Brethren, wait on God continually, be patient, depend on Him, trust Him, live His way and cast aside anxious care for the things of this world, and in due time you will be exalted.  You shall see Him because you will be like Him!