One Hope

ONE HOPE

An Exposition of the Glorious Future God Has Promised

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date: October 30, 2022

Series: Special Occasions          

Note: Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard   Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION

This morning I am taking a one-week break from the Genesis Series in order to address a timely matter. Although there is one primary reason for this message, this is the sort of message that can and should be profitably applied in a number of different directions.

Let me begin by sharing briefly about the background of this message.

It has been known for several weeks that the Elders are recommending some changes to the South Paris Baptist Church Constitution. Constitutional changes to official church organizational documents are typically not things that people get uber-energized about, and yet they are important. Just as a healthy muscular-skeletal system supports the movement and productivity of the physical body, so a healthy organizational structure supports the movement and productivity of the church body. The church is its people, and inasmuch as it is necessary for our common life to be undergirded by some measure of organization, we want that organization to be clear, efficient, and strong.

One proposed constitutional change is to make provision in the Constitution for the ministry of deacons, who would assist the elders in important ways.  

A second proposed constitutional change is to make provision in the Constitution for calling an associate pastor, who would work alongside the elders  and provide key leadership in certain aspects of our shepherding ministry.

A third proposed constitutional change is the one directly related to today’s sermon. The elders are proposing that the church’s doctrinal statement be adjusted by removing the word “premillennial” from the section that describes the return of our Lord. The part of our doctrinal statement that articulates our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ concludes with the affirmation that we believe in our Lord’s “personal, visible, and premillennial return from heaven.” The elders recommendation is to delete “premillennial” and replace it with “glorious and triumphant”, so that the new statement would affirm that we believe in our Lord’s “personal, visible, glorious and triumphant return from heaven.”

I place a premium on congregational unity. As such, my desire is that the congregational freely approve these three recommendations with unanimous or near unanimous support. A minimum two-thirds vote is required for approving these changes, but I’d like to see a vote of nine-tenths or higher for each of the three items.

The Purpose of This Sermon

The transparent purpose of today’s sermon is to persuade you of the rightness of walking in joyful Christian unity with other Christians regardless of their belief about the nature and the timing of the millennium. As I have navigated the riches of the Christian church for the last twenty-five years, it has become evident to me that there are faithful Christians who land in different places on their millennial views.

Now it is not my purpose in this sermon to unpack the ins and outs of the various millennial views. Aside from the fact that there is no way that the issues could be adequately unpacked in one sermon, to unpack the ins and outs of the various views would be very tedious and would involve us in a combination of minutiae and conjecture. Further, one’s millennial views are often interconnected with a number of other doctrinal beliefs, so a deep dive would involve some complexity.

The Millennial Picture

For the sake of general understanding, let me simply say that premillennialists believe that after Jesus returns, He will establish a millennial kingdom upon this earth. Only after this intermediate millennial reign will the final judgment take place, and then right after the final judgment the new heavens and the new earth will be established as the eternal dwelling place of the Lord’s redeemed people. One of the greatest strengths of the premillennial view is that it seems to be the most straightforward reading of Revelation 19-22.

On the other hand, there are non-premillennialists who believe that when Jesus returns, the final judgment will immediately take place and the new heavens and the new earth will be established. In other words, non-premillennialists do not believe that there will be an intermediate kingdom in between the Lord’s coming and the final judgment. Some non-premillennialists are known as amillennialists and others are known as postmillennialists. They believe that the millennium refers to some or all of the present church age prior to the Lord’s return. One of the greatest strengths of non-premillennial views is that numerous New Testament passages suggest that the Lord’s return will bring a finality to this present evil world, and it is difficult to imagine human sinfulness and rebellion continuing on earth after the Lord’s return, but that is exactly what pre-millennialists believe will happen.

Of course, I would be remiss not to mention our panmillennialist friends, who don’t stake out any position on the millennium but who remain steadfast in the belief that the sovereign Lord will see to it that everything will ‘pan out’ in the end. That, it must be said, is undoubtedly true!

Premillennialists, amillennialists, and postmillennialists are well represented throughout the history of the church and continue to be well represented throughout the church today. I have been significantly influenced, helped, and strengthened by faithful men from all three millennial camps. My conviction is that we can have a congregation of faithful, Bible-saturated, gospel-captivated, church-loving Christians who may nevertheless differ from each other in terms of their millennial view.

Hope is Future-Oriented

Now in light of this background to the sermon, I have titled this sermon, “One Hope”. The church of the Lord Jesus Christ is united in one hope, and being united together in this one hope is not dependent on comprehensive agreement on all the details of end-time questions.

The New Testament word “hope” directs our attention to the future. Hope is, by its very nature, future-oriented. This very basic idea that hope is future-oriented is made clear by Paul’s statement in Romans 8: “Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” (Romans 8:24-25) The content of biblical hope is the unseen future that God has promised – and so “we wait for it with patience.”

Biblical Hope is Key to the Christian Life

We need to be continually reminded of the hope that the Lord has set before us, because in this present life we have many troubles and we face many trials. If our hope is gutted of the promise of future glory and gets reduced down to the expectation that this present life is going to work out well for us – that we’re going to enjoy material wealth and physical health and earthly comfort and social respectability and political success – then we’re going to get into a heap of trouble and we’re not going to remain faithful to Jesus. Jesus didn’t tell us to live in order to maximize our comfort, wealth, and likability in this present life. Jesus said:

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their faithers did to the false prophets.” (Luke 6:24-26)

So, if you live in such a way that maximize earthly riches now, earthly abundance now, earthly happiness now, earthly respectability now, one day it’s all going to come crashing down. On the other hand, Jesus said:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.” (Luke 6:20-23)

Jesus calls us to lay down our lives and resources for His sake and for the gospel’s sake. It is through such self-giving love and sacrificial service that the message of the gospel is declared to the world and the beauty of the gospel is displayed to the world, and as that happens the Lord is glorified and His kingdom advances. When we live that way, we make it clear that our hope and joy are not tied to earthly prosperity but instead to spiritual realities that will culminate in a glorious future. When our hope is firmly anchored in this glorious, unseen, divinely-promised future, then we are free to lose everything for Jesus’ sake.

This connection between future hope and present faithfulness is made clear in a passage from Hebrews 10:

“For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.” (Hebrews 10:34, italics added)

If my treasure and sense of well-being is tied to my earthly property, then I will not be able to joyfully accept the plundering of it. But if my treasure and sense of well-being is tied to my great reward in heaven that is beyond the reach of men, then even though men can plunder my house and my livelihood and my bank account, they cannot plunder my better and abiding possession that is safe and secure in the heavens. Dear Christian, you and your inheritance are secure by the power of God (see 1 Peter 1:3-5).  

Of course, the things of this present world are not secure. As I consider the current landscape in America, I see at least two things:

• First, I see general social dysfunction: moral chaos, political division, economic instability, family stress and disorder, and individual depression and weariness.

• Second, I see American society moving in a direction that will result in increased persecution against Christians, which will mean that Christians are maligned and pushed to the margins of society.

If we are going to live well as Christians in the midst of this general social dysfunction and in the face of threats and persecutions, then we must have our hope firmly anchored in the glorious future that God has promised to us. This means that our hope is not in men. Our hope is not in the mid-term elections on November 8. Our hope is not in the strategies, movements, initiatives, and parties that are overseen by men. I am not saying that these things are irrelevant or unworthy of our attention. What I am saying is that our confidence regarding the future is not in the schemes of men:

“Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.” (Psalm 146:3-4)

Instead:

“Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God…. the LORD loves the righteous…. [But] the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. The LORD will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations.” (Psalm 146:5, 8, 9, 10)

So, in view of all these things, my exhortation to all of us today is to stand together in the one hope – the “living hope” (1 Peter 1:3) – that the Lord our God has set before us.

The One Church has One Hope

The phrase ‘stand together’ is key. After celebrating the unity of the body of Christ in Ephesians 2-3, Paul then gives this exhortation at the beginning of Ephesians 4:

“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:1-6)

The command that we be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” is based on the foundational reality that the church is one. As verse 4 begins, “There is one body”. This is a reference to the church, as Paul had said earlier in the letter that the church is the body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23). There is one body. There is one church. Of course, there are pseudo-churches, splinter groups, heretical religious communities and cults that claim the Christian label. But as far as the true church goes, there is one church. The body of Christ is not divided. Further, the unity of the church is not merely a social occurrence. The unity of the church is a spiritual reality that is defined by God, by the gospel of God, and by the promise of God.

It is no accident that the word “one” occurs seven times in Ephesians 4:4-6. The number ‘seven’ is often used symbolically in Scripture to denote completeness. Thus we are to understand that there is completeness and perfection to “the unity of the Spirit” that is found in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice the seven occurrences of “one”:

• “one body” (v. 4) – this means that there is one true church;

• “one Spirit” (v. 4) – this means that there are not many spirits energizing the church, in which case we would be fluttering about in different directions, but there is one Spirit directing the church. Since there is one Spirit directing the church, then if we are keeping in step with the Spirit, then we should expect the church to be characterized by unified forward movement;

• “one hope” (v. 4) – this means that there is one glorious future which we are anticipating and looking forward to, which means that when it comes to our most basic and big-picture goals, we share the same goals that have been set before us by the same Scripture promises;

• “one Lord” (v. 5) – this means that there are not many lords who are competing for mastery of the church, in which case your obedience would clash with my obedience and your worship could clash with my worship, because our eyes are focused on different lords, different standards, different expectations. In fact, however, there is one Lord Jesus Christ, and as our eyes are fixed on Him, we will grow together in Him;

• “one faith” (v. 5) – this means that there is one set of core doctrines that we believe. In the New Testament, sometimes the word ‘faith’ is used as a verb to indicate the act of trusting the Lord and believing His words; at other times the word ‘faith’ is used as a noun to indicate the content of what we believe. These are really two sides of the same coin. But in Ephesians 4:5 the word ‘faith’ is being used to indicate what we believe. Sometimes people draw the mistaken conclusion that doctrine facilitates disunity. In reality, the exact opposite is true: doctrine brings about unity among all those who humbly submit to it. Doctrine is a ballast and support for the unity of the church; we don’t play fast and loose with God’s Word; we don’t attempt to get creative and make things up as we go along; but instead we receive the same precious doctrine taught by God’s holy Word and put our confidence in it;

• “one baptism” (v. 5) – this means that there is one prescribed way of publicly identifying with the Lord and publicly entering the church community, namely, by being immersed into water in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; as a person hears the faith that is proclaimed and comes to believe in the Lord who is the focus of the proclamation, that person then goes public with his or her faith through baptism and thereby becomes a visible part of the body of Christ;

• “one God and Father of all” (v. 6) – this means that there are not many gods and fathers vying for allegiance in the church. The Lord Jesus Christ gave Himself as a sacrifice for sin in order to reconcile us to God the Father. Because we enjoy the same comfort, the same care, the same counsel that comes to all believers from “one God and Father”, we should expect to be able to function peacefully as brothers and sisters who are part of the one household of God, with one and the same Father watching over us.

Since these things are so – since there is one Father, who for our salvation sent His one and dear Son, who for our sanctification sent His one and life-giving Spirit, who draws sinners into the one faith and leads them through the one and same baptism into the one body of Christ and thereafter calls them to follow Christ in everyday obedience with one glorious hope set before them – since these things are so, we should be eager to avoid all selfish ambition, all stupid arguments, all careless infighting, all nit-picky critiques, and all attempts to distract each other from the weighty foundation of the Christian life. As Ephesians 4:2-3 direct us, we should humbly, gently, patiently, forbearingly, lovingly, and eagerly strive “to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Now we are ready to highlight the actual content of our one hope.

THE CONTENT OF OUR ONE HOPE

I will draw attention to seven closely related aspects of our hope. These seven things are widely attested throughout the Scriptures and therefore they form the solid foundation of our confident expectation of ­what God will do, because God has promised to do these things.

First, our Lord Jesus Christ is coming again. When the risen Lord Jesus ascended into heaven, the apostles “were gazing into heaven as he went” (Acts 1:10), and suddenly two angels appeared and told them, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11). In Philippians 3, the apostle Paul says that unlike world-minded people who are addicted to earthly pleasures (Philippians 3:18-19), for us Christians “our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20). In another letter, Paul gave a solemn charge to Timothy “to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Timothy 6:14). When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper together, after we partake of the bread and the cup, I customarily read 1 Corinthians 11:26, which says, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26). James instructed believers to be patient “until the coming of the Lord” (James 5:7). Peter responded to fleshly-minded scoffers who ask the question with an attitude of cynicism, “Where is the promise of his coming?” (2 Peter 3:4) by proclaiming to his Christian audience that the Lord “is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) Then he immediately adds: “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief” (2 Peter 3:10). The kingdom of heaven is “like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property…. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them.” (Matthew 25:14, 19). The “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13) of our Lord’s return is an absolutely foundational Christian belief and it frames the entire Christian life. We are to live all of life with a view toward His return.

Second, when our Lord comes, He will judge and condemn the unrighteous. In the language of Matthew 25 which I just quoted above, the Lord will come to settle accounts. The Lord comes in order to judge – to separate the wheat from the chaff, the diligent from the careless, the faithful from the unfaithful, the loving sheep from the unloving goats. He will cut the wicked in pieces (Matthew 24:51) and cast them “into the outer darkness” where there is “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:30). This future day of judgment, with Jesus seated as judge, is part of the gospel message that we proclaim. When Paul was preaching the gospel to the people in Athens, he declared:

“The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:30-31)

Psalm 110, which celebrates the royal authority of the Messiah as well as the Messiah’s everlasting priesthood “after the order of Melchizedek” (Psalm 110:4) also celebrates the Messiah as the executor of justice:

“he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.

He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses;

he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth.” (Psalm 110:4-6)

The Father has given Jesus “authority to execute judgment” (John 5:27). The New Testament gives a clear and sober warning that “the wrath of God is coming” (Colossians 3:6) upon unrepentant sinners (Colossians 3:5-6, Ephesians 5:5-6). Divine wrath and righteous retribution will be executed upon the unrighteous by the crucified Lamb:

“The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation 6:14-17)

The great day of judgment will be the undoing not only of irreligious people, but also of religious people who used Jesus but never came to love Him. Jesus said:

“On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7:22-23)

Our Lord came the first time as a lowly servant who laid down His life for us. The second time He is coming as a conquering King. Therefore “stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:36)

Third, when our Lord comes, He will save, vindicate, praise, and reward His faithful ones. The same Lord who renders judgment against the ungodly will render judgment in favor of His saints. Hebrews 9:28 says, “Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”

Our Lord will save us from the wrath of God. Paul described true servants of God as those who “wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” (1 Thessalonians 1:10) Jesus shields us from the wrath that will be poured out upon the ungodly: “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” (Romans 5:9)

Our Lord’s coming also means our vindication. In this present world it often looks like believers are on the losing side, the weak side, the suffering side. But God will settle the score when Jesus returns. In reference to those who persecute and afflict us, Paul writes that

“God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” (2 Thessalonians 1:6-8)

Remarkably, the Lord will praise us: “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:21, 23) Paul anticipated wonderful grace from the Lord on the day of judgment:

“[Do] not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.” (1 Corinthians 4:5) 

And this commendation and praise will be accompanied by reward:

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:7-8)

Fourth, when our Lord comes, our lowly bodies will be raised up and glorified. At this present time our physical bodies bear the marks of living in a fallen world. Our bodies are beset by weakness, by fatigue, by illness, by mortality, by the aging process, and finally by death. In terms of our present life, we are running down and wearing out: “our outer self is wasting away” (2 Corinthians 4:16). The Christian hope is not to be set free from the body, but for the body itself to be resurrected, sanctified, and glorified; for the body itself to be translated into the immortal sphere. God’s will is that when we enter into our everlasting inheritance in God’s kingdom, that we enter into it as embodied creatures. The problem is that these perishable bodies are incapable of inheriting the imperishable glories of the age to come (1 Corinthians 15:50). We need a hardware upgrade, and our God intends to give it to us. The promise of the gospel is that this perishable body will one day “put on the imperishable” and this mortal body will one day “put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:53). For us believers, death will be undone – death will be swallowed up in victory (1 Corinthians 15:54) – and in new bodies we will enter into the realm of unending joy. Paul writes: “[We] ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved.” (Romans 8:23-24) When our Lord comes, He “will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” (Philippians 3:21)

Fifth, when our Lord comes, we will behold His glory, be glorified with Him, and enjoy His presence forever. One day we will see the Lord face to face, and the sight of Him will satisfy our hearts forever. Paul writes that “when he comes on that day”, his purpose in coming is “to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed” (2 Thessalonians 1:10). John writes, “[We] know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). Paul writes, “When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:4) Indeed “we suffer with him” now at the present time “in order that we may also be glorified with him” when He comes (Romans 8:17). Some of the most precious words in the entire New Testament are found in 1 Thessalonians 4:

“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)  

Then Paul immediately adds: “Therefore encourage one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:18) The heart of our hope is that one day we will be with the Lord forever: “The Lamb in the midst of the throne will be [our] shepherd, and he will guide [us] to springs of living water, and God will wipe away ever tear from [our] eyes.” (Revelation 7:17) In the most ultimate sense, our hope is not in what will happen or when and how it will happen, but – as Paul wrote at the beginning of his first letter to Timothy – Christ Jesus Himself is our hope (1 Timothy 1:1).

Sixth, when our Lord comes, the promise of a new creation will be fulfilled. The Lord’s coming has a cosmic scope, namely, to recreate the universe. Peter tells us that when “the day of the Lord” comes, “then the heavens will pass away with a roar… and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.” (2 Peter 3:10) Well, if “the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire” (2 Peter 3:7), then what will exist after this “day of judgment” (2 Peter 3:7). Peter writes some of the most important words in all the Bible:

“Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.” (2 Peter 3:11-14)

We can have friendly discussion about how this sequence of future events might be mapped out on a timeline, but let’s not forget that Peter wrote these words in order to put life in proper perspective and to compel us toward holiness, godliness, diligence, and spiritual readiness.

Seventh, we will reign with Christ forever. The first woman was created to reign as queen alongside the first Adam. Their joint reign quickly fell into disarray because of their sin. But when this present world gives way to eternity, the glorious bride of Christ will reign alongside King Jesus forever. It is a stunning promise. The saints are destined to judge the world and to judge angels (1 Corinthians 6:1-3). Scripture says, “[If] we endure, we will also reign with him” (2 Timothy 2:12). Revelation 22:3-5 says that God’s servants “will worship him”, “will see his face”, and “will reign forever and ever” (Revelation 22:3, 4, 5). The new creation will flourish forever under the gracious rule of God’s redeemed people.  

OUR ONE HOPE IS WEIGHTY AND STRONG

As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we stand together – and must stand together – in this one and living hope. There is so much gravity and weightiness to this one hope, that – in my estimation – if we actually stand together in “the one hope that belongs to [our] call” (Ephesians 4:4), then it is foolish to divide over what one believes about the nature and timing of the millennium, or the nature and timing of the rapture, or the nature and timing of a final tribulation and antichrist. I am not suggesting that such questions are unimportant. Further, I am not here to critique a viewpoint that you might individually hold. What I am saying – and what I heartily believe – is that it is foolish to divide from one another because we give different answers to the finer points of end-times questions.

If we stand together on the rock solid foundation of God’s lavish promises concerning the future, then let’s be resolved to truly stand together, to receive one another, to work side by side, to suffer together, to support each other through trials, to so love one another that we display the character of God to our ungodly world, to shoulder one another’s burdens, and to contend for the faith as brothers and sisters and as allies and friends who “wrestle… against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)

On the basis of the future hope promised to us, we can make great sacrifices for the cause of Christ. We can reason: “Let goods and kindred go, / This mortal life also – The body they may kill; God’s truth abideth still: His kingdom is forever.”[1] We can face every affliction and say: “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17). We can lose everything for the Lord’s sake, and still abide in peace and joy and love, because of “the hope laid up for [us] in heaven” (Colossians 1:5).

In the words of a familiar hymn:

“Sing the wondrous love of Jesus,
Sing His mercy and His grace;
In the mansions bright and blessed
He'll prepare for us a place.

“While we walk the pilgrim pathway,
Clouds will overspread the sky;
But when trav'ling days are over,
Not a shadow, not a sigh.

“Let us then be true and faithful,
Trusting, serving every day;
Just one glimpse of Him in glory
Will the toils of life repay.

“Onward to the prize before us!
Soon His beauty we'll behold;
Soon the pearly gates will open;
We shall tread the streets of gold. 

“When we all get to Heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We'll sing and shout the victory!”[2]

ENDNOTES

[1] From the hymn “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” by Martin Luther (translated by Frederick H. Hedge).

[2] From the hymn “When We All Get to Heaven” by Eliza E. Hewitt.