The Woman In Travail - Revelation 12:1-2

In Revelation 12, we introduced the text and

just the nature of the book and the nature of

the literature last week. We considered the fact

that this is apocalyptic literature and must

be understood. And the meaning must be pulled

out from it as that kind of literature. This

week we come to a great sign. Or a great symbol

that appears in the sky. In heaven. The night

sky. Imagine it dark. And then you have these

great images appear in the sky. And what is the

sign that John describes? What is the sign that

the Apostle John characterizes? Well, he says

it's a woman. And this woman is on the brink

of having a child. She's clothed in sun, meaning

she's radiant. She's glorious. She's majestic.

She's shining. This woman has the moon underneath

her foot. She has something as her footstool.

And on her head, She has a crown. Now, we think

about this sign, and John is telling us something,

brothers and sisters. He wants to explain something

to us through this symbol. That's what we will

consider today. Today, we're going to consider

the woman. That is in the sign. We're going to

consider the fact that the woman is in. She's

in the midst of giving birth. And we're going

to consider the woman's child that she travailed

for. The son, this male child that was born to

her. So beginning with the woman, the people

of God in the Old Covenant. The Messianic community

of old. that was given the promises of the coming

Messiah. Now we can deduce or we can come to

her identity in several different ways. We could

look at the surrounding context and look a little

bit later in the treatment of the woman throughout

this chapter. But if we just consider how she

is described in verses 1 through 2, to a point

where we grasp her identity. So the first thing

we have to consider, and as we think about this,

we're not looking to answer it in this way. We're

not coming to this sign in the sky and saying,

who is that woman? That's not what we want to

do. We want to come to that sign in the sky and

say, what does that woman represent? What does

that symbol represent? What is it trying to teach

me by what it represents? So we can consider

several things about the appearance or the description

of this woman in the sky. First, her clothing

or her garb. Notice this, a great sign appeared

in heaven. A woman clothed with... Now, the sun

is very bright. It's hard to look at the sun

during the day directly because it's so bright.

It's rays are shining forth so strongly. This

is how John characterizes this woman in the sky.

She is clothed. She has a robe of brightness.

It's as though... She's a luminous, bright light

that she is clothed in. She's majestic, the favor

of God. She is glorious. She is utterly radiant.

Now, we think about this and we go, well, what

exactly is he talking about? We have a tendency

to think, and John wants us to think, in terms

of physical appearance. And he's using these

symbols for that purpose. But the Old Testament

actually talks a great deal about the glory and

the beauty and the holiness and the majestic

character of God's covenant people. We could

think, or we could turn to the book of Exodus,

Exodus 19 · chapter mention

chapter 19, which says this. In verses 4 -6,

You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians,

and how I bore you on eagles' wings, meaning

God gave divine protection to the people of God,

and brought you to myself, meaning God delivered

the people from Israel by His divine power, His

divine protection, and He brought them out to

the wilderness to Himself. He delivered them,

he saved them, he rescued them in the exodus

to bring them out to himself. Now then, if you

indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then

you shall be my own possession among all the

peoples. For all the earth is mine. Now, notice,

God is saying you're going to be unique among

all the peoples of the earth. You're going to

stand out. You're going to be distinct. You're

going to be special among all the nations of

the world. And here's what he says in verse 6.

And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests,

a holy nation. These are the words you shall

speak to the sons of Israel. The people of God

have always had the true church. Throughout the

ages. Has always had a radiant holiness. That

distinguishes it. From those around it. We could

look. At Psalm chapter 48. Which says this in

Psalms 48 · chapter mention

verses 1 through 3. Great is the Lord. And greatly

to be praised. In the city of our God. His holy

mountain. Beautiful in elevation, the joy of

the whole earth is Mount Zion in the far north,

the city of the great king. God in her palaces

has made himself known as a stronghold. What

is God speaking about? Dwelling with his people

in his radiant glory. His people. His holy mountain.

The joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion, brothers

and sisters. The city of God. The people of God.

Where God dwells. He is in her midst. He exudes.

He gives His glory. His majesty. His radiance

in and through His people. So their radiance

and their glory finds its source and its root

in God. and his character himself. We could look

at the prophet Ezekiel and get a glimpse of what

John is talking about. We read this in Ezekiel

Ezekiel 16:10–14

16, verses 10 -14. I also clothed you with embroidered

cloth and put sandals of porpoise skin on your

feet, and I wrapped you with fine linen and covered

you with silk. I adorned you with ornaments,

put bracelets on your hands and a necklace around

your neck. I also put a ring in your nostril,

earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown

on your head. Thus, you were adorned with gold

and silver, and your dress was of fine linen,

silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour,

honey, and oil, so you were exceedingly beautiful

and advanced to royalty. That's talking about

God's covenant faithfulness and love to his people.

God has placed his love and his mercy and his

grace on his covenant people. And that makes

her glorious. That makes her radiant. That makes

her majestic and vibrant. It makes her shine

as the sun in a spiritual sense, brothers and

sisters. Not because of anything innate. or inherent

within herself, but because of God and His work

and His blessing and His favor upon His people.

The New Testament talks a great deal about the

superior excellence of the new covenant church

and the beauty and the glory that Christ has

bestowed. We could think about 1 Peter chapter

1 Peter 2 · chapter mention

2. where it talks about the spiritual nation,

which is related to Exodus chapter 19. And it

Exodus 19 · chapter mention

talks about the glory of the spiritual temple

and the spiritual acts of worship and service.

We can think about Ephesians chapter 2, where

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

God himself dwells in his people and they are

being built up like a house, like a temple. We

can think about Hebrews chapter 12, brothers

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

and sisters. where it compels Mount Zion, the

old covenant, the doom, the gloom, the death,

the frightfulness of the old covenant and the

law and the people of God, the church and the

old covenant. And the glorious reality of the

great gathering in the new heavens and new earth

and in the intermediate period where the saints

gathered with perfect righteousness and angels

with Christ. So the people of God have always

had a glory and a radiance, almost as though

the sun is shining off of them as John speaks

about. This is what she has clothed in, brothers

and sisters. But we also see that she has a footstool

and a crown. Now when we think about a footstool,

what does that immediately... cause you to think

about power, authority, dominion, victory, royalty,

maybe kingship, kingdom, rule, and power. But

it also talks about submission. It implies obedience

and overcoming. What is it that made the covenant

people of old? so special. What made them unique

among all the nations, brothers and sisters,

was the fact that God himself chose them. The

fact that God himself picked them out. The fact

that God himself gave them his law. Gave them

the law and the prophets. It's the fact that

God himself gave those people the promises of

a Messiah. It's the fact, brothers and sisters,

that the Messiah would actually come forth from

this covenant community, this covenant people.

It's talking about the place of God's rule, the

kingdom of God, where God rules perfectly and

righteously in that mediatorial way and the hearts

and minds of his people. The place where the

prophets and the word of God speaks authoritatively.

Where is this? It's talking about the people

of God, brothers and sisters. It's talking about

those faithful believers in the Old Testament

who looked forward to a coming Messiah because

God had given them promises of a coming Messiah.

God had made a covenant with them. So what is

the identity of this woman who's wearing this

crown and this robe? This crown which signifies

her royal status and the totality of God's people

where there was 12 tribes and the 12 apostles

for the New Covenant Church. The whole of God's

covenant people. It's talking about... The messianic

covenant community of old preeminently. Those

believers who look forward to Christ waiting,

longing, and looking for a Messiah. For deliverance

and for salvation. It's not talking about Mary.

An individual person. It's talking about the

people. That would bring forth the Messiah. The

people that would produce and provide the lineage.

And the heritage of the Messiah. The promised

seed of Abraham. So we think about this. And

we think about what John is teaching us through

this sign. It shows us something about. the identity

of the church and the people of God, brothers

and sisters, when we think about the church,

when we think about the people of God throughout

the ages, they're not always esteemed in the

eyes of the world. The church is not always seen

as great and mighty in the eyes of the world,

brothers and sisters. It's not always valued.

The church is certainly not seen as distinguished

and blessed. The church is certainly not seen

as glorious and radiant and majestic and full

of glory in the sight of the unbelieving world

around us. It's actually what? The opposite of

that. How is the church presented in the world

and the culture? The true church. As backwards.

As antithetical to that which is good for humanity.

As that which is fundamental and doesn't know

what is right and wrong. But what does John teach

us? How does God view the church? How does Christ

view the church? What is heaven's perspective

on the people of God, brothers and sisters? They

are glorious. The people of God are highly esteemed

in heaven's sight. That's you if you are in Christ.

That is you if you have faith and repentance.

God sees you as radiant. God sees you as majestic.

God sees you as His prize, as His possession.

Christ loves you. His mercy and His grace is

upon you. And that is why you are glorious in

His sight. Because He has chosen you. Out of

all the people who don't deserve it, He has chosen

you to make new, to make holy, to make glorious.

Brothers and sisters, we ought not to seek to

be like the world. We ought to rest in the fact

that we are who we are by the grace of God and

that is what God wants us to be. And He loves

us and He is satisfied with us and He sees us

as that in Christ because of the work of Christ.

We have to see the church. and ourselves as Christ

sees us. You have to view the local church and

the kingdom of God in this world. You have to

view the place of the promises as God himself

sees them. Change how you think about these things,

brothers and sisters. Have you adopted worldly

thinking with regards to the... the nature and

the identity of God's people? Or do you see the

church and think about the church in a way that

is consistent with how she is put forward in

this passage? As radiant, as glorious, as shining.

That's how John puts her forth. That's how John

pictures her. That's one of the things that John

wants to teach us about her. Now, this woman

in the heavens that John paints a picture of

is a woman in travail. This is the second thing

we have to consider. The people of God longing,

waiting, and anticipating the Messiah. Now, there's

a reason John, I believe, chooses this kind of

imagery. When we think about the sign that he

puts forward, he wants it to be loud and clear

that she is on the brink of giving birth. She's

on the brink of having a child. What does he

say? A great sign appeared in heaven, a woman

clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet,

and on her head a crown of twelve stars. We know

who she is. But here's what else he tells us.

And she was with child, and it's not just that

she was with child, she's nearing the time of

the child's birth. And she cried out, being in

labor and in pain, to give birth. It's not as

though she's early on in the pregnancy. She's

into the pregnancy a good long while. She's on

the brink of having a baby. She's in pain, but

there's this joyful anticipation and expectation

of what is to come as well. I believe John pictures

this, and he chooses this because it shows us

a Combination, a mixture of pain, grief, hurt,

heartache, being distraught, despair almost at

times, and great joy, hope, peace, longing, anticipation,

and expectation. What does this mean? What is

the travail of the woman that is put forth me?

It's the redemptive groaning of God's people

in the Old Testament, brothers and sisters. It's

the redemptive heartache that took place all

throughout the Old Covenant as the people of

God had hardship waiting for the Messiah. but

also as the people of God had great joy and anticipation

and expectation as they looked to the Messiah

for their hope, for what is to come, for victory,

and for success, and for life. It's the redemptive

groanings of God's covenant people before the

coming of Christ. Now why are the people of God,

of old, experiencing these redemptive groanings?

Why are they agonizing and why are they travailing

as they wait for the Messiah? One significant

cause is the fact of sin and unbelief. Why is

there any groaning? Why is there any suffering?

Why is there any heartache in the world? Why

is there any pain? Why is there any loss? Why

is there any grief in this world at all? Because

sin is coming to the world as a result of our

forefather Adam being unfaithful to the covenant

God made with him. Sin has ushered in these redemptive

longings into the life of God's people. But it's

not just the sin. It's unbelief. It's not believing

what God has said and what God has told His people

with regards to the promises. In a sense, the

people of God, of old, the saints of old, brought

this on themselves. Why are so many in heartache

today? Why are so many struggling? Why are so

many angry and bitter and hard -hearted? Because

of their own actions and their own hearts and

their own minds so often. Sin causes us to do

wild, wicked, hard things, and there are consequences.

The Bible teaches we reap what we sow, and that

is true of the people of God as well. So, why?

Or the people of old. Experiencing these redemptive

groanings. Because of their sin. Because of their

unbelief. In the life of the people. In the life

of Israel. In the life of the patriarchs. In

the life of the kings. In the time of the kings.

And the prophets we see the same thing. When

they were in exile. When they were not in exile.

Sin and unbelief. had its way and brought about

redemptive longings. But we also see it's not

just sin and unbelief which bring these about.

If we consider the Bible, it's actually, in addition

to that, the consequences of their sin and unbelief.

Why did the people of God have these redemptive

groanings? Brothers and sisters, a large part

of it is because their sin and their unbelief

brought about the disciplining hand of God into

their life. Why did the nation seemingly have

success at times? If you read 1st, 2nd Chronicles,

1st, 2nd Kings, why would some kings do well

and other kings do poorly? Because of obedience

or unfaithfulness, unfaithfulness, disobedience

to God's covenant and God's word. And what would

happen when they were disobedient and unfaithful?

God would discipline them, judge them, and they

would be overthrown and they would be defeated.

The consequences of their unbelief and their

sin. They experienced hardship in the life of

the nation, in the life of the people before

Christ, because there are consequences for not

believing God. and His Word. There are consequences

for volitionally and willfully choosing to sin

against a holy and a righteous God who oversees

and superintends all things in this world. So

we see that they have these redemptive groanings

as a result of their sin and their unbelief.

Ultimately, this all came to a point when the

nation was exiled. Do you remember how the nation

was overthrown? The northern and then the southern,

I believe, in that order. And they're taken off

to Babylon. You could read the whole book of

Daniel. And what's the basis for the book of

Daniel? The people of God in exile. The people

of God living in exile and banishment. And why

were they doing these things? Why did they experience

these things? Because of their unbelief and their

sin. So we find that there are many, many reasons

for these redemptive groanings in their life.

This pain, this grief. this mourning, this sadness.

Isaiah chapter 26 says this. Verses 17 and 18.

Isaiah 26 · chapter mention

As a pregnant woman approaches the time to give

birth, she writhes and cries out in her labor

pains. Thus were we before you, O Lord. We were

pregnant. We writhed in labor. We gave birth.

As it seems only to win. We could not accomplish

deliverance for the earth. Nor were the inhabitants

of the world born. It's talking about. Israel's

unfaithfulness before God and his faithfulness.

And the promises of what he would do. And what

he would bring about. And what he would accomplish

for the people. We could think about many of

the barren women in Scripture. We could think

about Rachel. Or before Rachel, we could think

about Sarah, Abraham's wife. She was barren.

She could not conceive. She could have no child.

And that brought grief, shame, and sadness. into

her life because that was the culture of the

day. It was a shameful thing not to have children.

It was a shameful thing not to have posterity

or to leave a legacy, especially a male child

in that day, in that age. And so it brought shame

and ostracization in the life of a woman. But

she experienced great joy. Great anticipation,

as God promised she would, in fact, have a child.

There was grief, there was mourning, there was

sadness, but God opened her womb and brought

forth a child, the child of promise. God brought

about the lineage that would bring about the

Messiah. And so he demonstrates and he proves

his sovereignty the lineage, and the bringing

about of the Messiah. There was great grief and

sadness and heartache as the people of God waited

for the Messiah that God had promised. But we

also see, brothers and sisters, that there was

great joy, peace. There was anticipation and

expectation, hope. That the people of God enjoyed

as they waited, looking forward to and longing

for the Messiah that was promised. It wasn't

just heartache. It wasn't just hardship and sadness

and trial and difficulty and travail. This travail

also shows that there was expectation. There

was anticipation in the life. Of God's people.

Would you read Isaiah 54. And you can just sense.

The joy. That is being communicated. In this

passage. Shout for joy. Oh barren one. You who

have born no child. Break forth into joyful shouting.

And cry aloud. You who have not travailed. For

the sons of the desolate one. Will be more numerous.

Than the sons of the married woman. Says the

Lord. Enlarge the place of your tent and stretch

out the curtains of your dwelling. Spare not.

Lengthen your cords and strengthen your pegs

for you will spread abroad to the right and to

the left and your descendants will possess nations

and will resettle the desolate cities. Restoration

is coming. Renewal is coming. Regathering is

coming. Salvation is coming. The new covenant

is coming. The Messiah is coming. These are travail.

These are birth pains as they wait for what God

has promised. Fear not, for you will not be put

to shame. And do not feel humiliated, for you

will not be disgraced. But you will forget the

shame of your youth and the reproach of your

widowhood. You will remember no more. For your

husband is your maker. whose name is the Lord

of hosts. And your Redeemer is the Holy One of

Israel who is called the Lord of all the earth.

For the Lord has called you like a wife forsaken

and grieved in spirit, even like a wife of one's

youth when she is rejected, says your God. Hope,

joy, anticipation, and expectation for what is

to come because the Messiah was yet to come.

This travail, all these redemptive groanings,

don't just come in the form of despair. They

come in the form of faithful waiting and expectation

for God's promises. We think again about the

world around us and our lives. Maybe even the

things in our own homes, in our own families,

in our own church life. Brothers and sisters,

those things ought to cause and well up within

us a desire, a longing for things to be righted,

for things to be reconciled. But we mustn't let

these things drive us to despair. We must let

these things drive us to the Lord Jesus Christ,

who is the only one who can and the only one

who is able to fix these things ultimately, fully,

and finally. But we also ought to look at the

travails in our own life, the redemptive groanings

that we experience as we wait. for the second

advent of Christ. And let them remind us of the

promises that have been made to us about what

is going to take place. Just as real as the heartache

is in the life of God's people, brothers and

sisters, is the joy and the hope, the anticipation

and the expectation of what is to come when Christ

returns. We have to let those things drive us

not to despair, but to Christ and to rejoicing

at the fact that God has promised that these

things will be fixed. These things will be fully

and finally taken care of and made right. When?

After a turn of the Lord Jesus Christ. when He

comes to this world once again, we must let them

drive us to Christ in joy and hope of what we

have in Christ and what will be true of us in

greater measure and greater degree in a manifest

form when Christ returns. This was a woman in

travail. And it teaches us about the redemptive

groanings of God's covenant people before Christ

came to this world. But what about the woman's

child that she travailed for? The promised Messiah

that the people of God waited for. Because she

does give birth. The travails do end. The turmoil

and the anticipation, in a sense, comes to a

close in the image and the picture that John

is using because we read in verse 5, And she

gave birth to a son, a male child who was to

rule all the nations, with a rod of iron, and

her child was cut up to God and to his throne.

We don't need to jump back and forth about who

this figure is. Who is it that came forth from

the covenant community of old? The Messiah, Jesus

Christ. The groaning, in a sense, was taking

place because one was to come. but had not yet

arrived. One was promised, but those promises

had not been realized, and they had not been

fulfilled as they would be one day. It's speaking

of the Messiah that was promised throughout the

Old Covenant. The Messiah, who is Christ, That

was spoken of and alluded to and foreshadowed

in all kinds of ways throughout the Old Covenant.

It's as though the Old Covenant, in all of its

parts, in all of its portions, in all of its

pieces, its stories, its characters, it's as

though the Old Covenant is pregnant with the

Messiah. With Messianic thought, with messianic

truths, with Christ, brothers and sisters. It's

as though it's gradually building and progressing

to the point and place where Christ would come

into this world, where the Messiah would arrive

and appear on the scene for God's covenant people.

The Messiah is the seed promised in Genesis 3,

Genesis 3:15

verse 15, where the offspring of the woman is

going to crush the head of the serpent. The Messiah

is the seed of Abraham that would bless the entire

world, brothers and sisters. It's the promised

Messiah that would come forth from Abraham's...

physical lineage, and through the nation of Israel.

He is the angel of the Lord that mediated the

promises of God to the people of God that would

one day become incarnate and take on flesh. The

Messiah, brothers and sisters, is the seed promised

all throughout the Bible. He is the one greater

than Moses, the prophet greater. Than Moses.

He is the servant of the Lord. As the prophet

Isaiah spoke of him. And the suffering servant.

Of Isaiah chapter 53. He is the one. Who would

Isaiah 53 · chapter mention

sit. And rule on the throne of David. Forever.

Without end. He is the great shepherd. Of the

sheep. That would regather and restore. And rebuild

the nation of Israel. That would gather in. All

the sheep. He is the great prophet. The great

priest. And the great king. That would come and

mediate. The greater sacrifice. And the greater

salvation. And bring God and man together. In

the gospel of Jesus Christ. He is the type. He

is the antitype of all the types in the Old Testament

that foreshadow him. The Messiah is the fulfillment

of every promise and every prophecy regarding

the Messiah, the Messianic community, the new

heavens and the new earth, and the work that

he would accomplish. Brothers and sisters, We're

talking about none other than the Lord Jesus

Christ himself. He was born in Bethlehem. We're

talking about the Son of God who took on flesh

and dwelt among us. The one that was the God

-man and born of the Virgin Mary. The Alpha and

the Omega, the great physician, the great I Am.

the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world,

and the Lion of the tribe of Judah. We're talking

about our Lord, our Master, our Savior, Jesus

Christ the Lord. This is why when we come to

the New Testament narrative accounts of the birth

of Christ, we read this in Luke chapter 22. full

Luke 22 · chapter mention

of anticipation, as though the centuries have

been culminating and building to this point.

In Luke 2, starting in verse 22, we read this.

Or verse 21. And when eight days had passed before

his circumcision, his name was then called Jesus.

He was given by the angel before he was conceived

in the womb, talking about his name. And when

the days of their purification according to the

law of Moses were completed, they brought him

up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. As

it is written in the law of the Lord, every firstborn

child that opens the womb shall be called holy,

to the Lord, and to offer a sacrifice according

to what was said in the law of the Lord, a pair

of turtle doves or two young pigeons. And there

was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon.

And this man was righteous and devout, looking

for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit

was upon him. What was he looking for? The consolation

of Israel. The Messiah. The messianic hope that

he had known about and he had learned about and

he had come to long for and come to believe that

was given to him and the promises that were in

God's word and in God's law that was written

down. That he knew in his heart and his mind.

And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit

that he would not see death before he had seen

the Lord's Christ, the Lord's Messiah. The Anointed

One. Jesus Christ. And He came in the Spirit

into the temple. And when the parents brought

in the child Jesus to carry out for Him the custom

of the law, then He took Him into His arms and

blessed God and said, Now, Lord, You are releasing

Your bondservant to depart in peace according

to Your Word. For my eyes have seen your salvation,

which you have prepared in the presence of all

peoples, a light of revelation to the Gentiles

and the glory of your people Israel. He's holding

a baby in his arms. He's saying that this is

the salvation, brothers and sisters. Christ,

the child, the baby in the flesh. That is the

salvation of the people. That is the light of

revelation to the Gentiles, the glory. of God's

covenant people. And his father and mother were

amazed at the things which were being said about

him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary

his mother, Behold, this child is appointed for

the fall and rise of many in Israel and for a

sign to be opposed. And a sword will pierce even

your own soul to the end that thoughts from many

hearts may be revealed. And there was a prophetess,

Anna, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of

Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived

with her husband seven years after her marriage.

And then, as a widow at the age of 84, she never

left the temple serving night and day with fastings

and prayers. At that very moment, she came up

and began giving thanks to God and continued

to speak of Him. to all those who were looking

for the redemption of Jerusalem. Messianic hope.

And when does this messianic hope arrive on the

scene? When does it become tangible? When are

you able to see this messianic hope? When are

you able to touch this messianic hope? When does

salvation arrive for the people of God? When

Christ arrives. When the Lord Jesus Christ himself

comes on the scene. Salvation comes to the people

of God. The hope of Israel. The dreams. The longings.

The desires. The anticipation. The waiting. It's

all fulfilled and wrapped up in the person and

the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why.

Christmas is important. Because it's talking

about the coming, the first advent of the Lord

Jesus Christ. Now, when we think about the first

advent of Christ, there was much that was seemingly

concealed. Wasn't there, brothers and sisters?

It was still an element of mystery. in the Incarnation.

His glory was not seen in His first advent, His

first coming. His power, His authority, His majesty

was not seen. It was not tangible. It was not

on display as it could have been in His first

coming. In fact, the first advent, the first

coming of Christ definitively marked by humiliation.

Lowliness on the part of the Son of God. He took

on flesh and dwelt among us, brothers and sisters.

He lived unto the law. And how did he die? As

a criminal. In a shameful death being mocked.

It was marked by humiliation. lowliness, pain,

suffering. But those days came to an end. He

didn't stay on the cross, did he, brothers and

sisters? He came when he was born as a baby to

go to the cross. But he didn't stay on the cross.

Three days later, he rose from the dead of his

own authority, his own power. And then he ascended

to the Father's right hand sometime later. He's

ruling and he's reigning. So the first coming

of Christ really inaugurates and starts another

period of waiting for the new covenant people

of God. The church throughout the ages has always

been a waiting. A longing church. A looking church

to see what is ahead. An expectant church. And

we are no different. Because there is another

advent ahead of us. There is the second coming

of the Lord Jesus Christ. But how will this coming

be different than his first? That which was concealed

and hidden and not seen in the first will be

fully manifest and fully evident and fully witnessed

and fully felt by every human being on planet

earth when he returns. Just as all of redemptive

history For the old covenant saint was culminating

and leading and building to the first coming

of Christ. Brothers and sisters, all human history

is building, progressing, culminating, and heading

to one distinct point and moment of time, the

second coming of Christ. when there will be a

reckoning for the entire world. He's already

dealt with sin. He's already saved His people.

He's already called in His elect. And now He's

coming, not as a little baby, not as one concealed

with His glory covered, but as one who is the

Son of Man in power and glory and authority for

all the world to see. There will be no mistaking

about who this God -man is on that great day.

Whether men like it, whether men rejoice in it,

whether men run away from it, brothers and sisters,

you will bow the knee to Christ when He comes

in glory. Because He will not be coming in humiliation.

He will be coming in glory and exaltation at

His next coming. We wait for that. We look to

that, brothers and sisters. Men in the world

who do not know Christ have to reckon with the

fact that they deal with Christ now or they deal

with Christ later. You come to Him by faith and

repentance now, or He comes to you in judgment

on that great day. The gospel is being proclaimed

to all the nations. The gospel is being preached

among the nations. The gospel is being preached

today, and that means there is time for sinners

to turn from their sin and to trust in Christ.

but that day will run out. When Christ comes

back, there's no more gospel preaching, brothers

and sisters. When Christ returns, there's no

more call for repentance and faith because of

your sin and immorality and because of the things

in your life. That's done. But there is today.

There is now. There is in this moment, there

is as long as there is breath left in your lungs,

you have time to turn from your sins and to trust

in Christ or deal with Him when He comes again

in glory and power. The church is to remain faithful

and wait faithfully as we look to that day. We

do that by living by faith. According to the

word that God has given to us. Not getting squirmy

and antsy in this world and antsy in this life.

But brothers and sisters, waiting faithfully.

Knowing what Christ has done in his first advent.

That we are saved by grace. That we have eternal

life. that our sins are forgiven, that when we

die we go to be with God, we go to His throne,

into His presence, and that we have no condemnation

or judgment. But we wait, brothers and sisters,

with faith looking unto Christ throughout our

lives. Not squirming, but faithful, waiting,

looking to the promises of God, knowing. That

just as God faithfully brought about every promise

to His covenant people at the first advent of

Christ, He will bring about every promise to

its full and final fulfillment and realization

at the second coming for all of His people.