[Note: This is a bilingual sermon. The pastor speaks in English and the content is then rendered in Chinese by a translator. Both languages are preserved as delivered.]
So today, with translation, we don't want to make the service very long, so I will move quickly to the message that the Lord would have us hear from his word this day. Let us open to 2 Peter 3, verses 8 to 13. The 和合本 here has at least two problems with this translation. The first is in verse 8, 亲爱的弟兄 — and verse 14 has the same. Of course in some 和合本 editions you will see little dots under 弟兄, which tells you those words do not exist in the Greek. Peter is saying: beloved, my beloved ones, I have something to tell you. If you say 弟兄们, then of course the sisters don't come into the picture. And even in the Greek text, where the word for brethren does occur, the Greek word is wider than the English — it includes the sisters.
The second and more important problem is that the 和合本 fails to translate the key word in verse 12. What we read in the 和合本 is 切切仰望神的日子来到 — that is correct, but it translates only one of two words in the Greek text. Now if anyone has a 新意本, you will hear a much more accurate translation. Please listen to the 新意本 version of verse 12: 等候并催促上帝的日子降临 — Because in that day, the heavens will be dissolved by fire and the elements will melt in the heat. You see the words 等候并催促 — waiting and hastening. The 和合本 only has 仰望 — waiting — and does not translate the 催促 — hastening — part. And 催促 — to hasten, to speed up — is precisely my text today. If you carefully check the six times where this Greek word appears in the New Testament, it always carries the meaning of speeding something up, hurrying something up.
That is why I have to spend this time explaining to you, because otherwise you look in your 和合本 and there is no such word. Now you understand why there is a 新意本 — just to cover the deficiencies of the 和合本. I didn't want to spend time criticizing the 和合本, but even my text is not there. Because this word — to hasten the coming of the Lord — is a very, very important thing, and the Chinese translation wipes it away.
现在大家明白为什么要用新意本了. 和合本在这里只翻译了 "切切仰望", 而没有翻译 "催促" 那个字. 可是在希腊原文里面, 这个 "催促" 字在新约圣经出现了六次, 每一次都是说催促某一件事快快地发生. 这个是我今天讲道的主题 — 我们怎样可以催促主的日子快点来临.
Now clearly this is an exceedingly important saying in the Lord's word. Is there some way in which we can hasten the coming of the Lord? If there is, then clearly we have something very important that we can do. But in my entire Christian life, which is not too short, I have never heard a message on how we may speed up — if there is any way we can — the return of the Lord Jesus. Have you ever heard a message on this? Something as important as this, and nobody has anything to tell us.
Just over two weeks ago, I'm sure you were listening to the news. You heard about what was going on in Korea — it was even in international news. Some so-called prophet in South Korea was preaching that the Lord was coming back. What time? Oh, he had the time exactly fixed: October the 28th at 11pm. In fact, on that day we were having a six-team session. They may recall that I didn't even bother to mention this prediction on that day. For those who are trained in the word of God, this was something not even worth the time to think about.
I wonder whether you were watching CNN as the time was approaching eleven o'clock that evening. The cameras were zooming in on those people waiting for the coming of the Lord. Did you see it? Many of you saw it, yes. And did you see — they were so tense. Oh, it seemed that they were about to be executed. Their faces — there was no joy to be seen. They had their hands raised as if saying: Lord, have mercy on me, don't destroy me. If the coming of the Lord is that frightening, what were they doing there? They looked like they were heading for punishment.
I am just wondering what their pastors teach them in those churches. What did they learn, that they have to behave like this when the Lord is going to come? There is, at the end of 1 Corinthians, this word Paul uses: Maranatha — Lord, come. It is a word of joyful expectation. He is coming — what joy! That is the right spirit.
대구 몇 일 전에, 저는 홍콩에서 제 아내를 공항에서 마중했습니다.
Just a few days ago, I was welcoming my wife Helen from the airport. Now if those who came to the airport saw me behaving like those Korean Christians — waving with a terrified face, looking like someone about to be executed — you would have thought, what kind of a marriage is this? And I am thinking of those international television cameras, seen by maybe hundreds of millions of people all over the world, looking at these Christians waiting for Jesus to return and looking terrified to death. Do you think non-Christians watching this would want to believe in Jesus? If I saw this as a non-Christian, I'd say: forget it, this Jesus must be terrible. But if they were happy and singing — the Lord is coming soon, so wonderful — then I'd say: oh, this Jesus must be wonderful.
So before my wife came back, what was I doing? I tried to buy some food and put it in the fridge. I was working very hard to clean the apartment. I rearranged the furniture so that everything looks nice and neat. What for? So that she can be happy when she comes back — she doesn't arrive to find the whole thing a mess and have to start washing the dishes and sweeping the floor. When she came in, there was not even one dish for her to wash. I had done it all already. I failed in one thing though: I was looking for some flowers and could not find any. I got so desperate, I nearly thought of taking some flowers that were put in front of a store for its opening a few days earlier — and I thought, maybe they don't mind. But in the end I felt, maybe not.
If the Lord is coming, what would we do? We want to get our lives in order, so that when the Lord comes, he is happy with us, he is pleased. I am sure that when the Lord comes, he doesn't want to see all those people in agony. What can we do? Before Helen came back, of course we talked on the phone from time to time — it's a little bit expensive to call between Hong Kong and Canada. But sometimes I would drop a few hints. I would say: ah, the air here is quite good in Hong Kong where we stay. You should come and see the scenery — it's not bad either. What I wanted was for her to be so happy about coming back that maybe she would book her ticket one or two days earlier.
Can we persuade the Lord to come back a few days earlier? I think if the Lord knows that we joyfully expect his return, there might be some incentive for him to move it a little bit earlier. Maybe we don't think of the Lord like that — we think of him as a great King on the throne looking at his supreme schedule. My flight back is booked at this date and cannot change. Well, it sounds a bit funny, but I wouldn't be surprised if many of us think like that. God is very fixed — he doesn't change his plans. What if he hasn't got any fixed plans? What if whether he comes back earlier or later depends, to some extent, on us?
We never thought God would take any notice of us. Which king bothers with the likes of us? He wants to come, he comes; he doesn't want to come, forget it. Maybe our whole concept of God has some problem here. In the sixth-team training, we are studying a lot about the nature of God. And in the discussion, I provoke everyone to think — and I notice that the thoughts about God that I propose from the word of God are very surprising to them.
Surely you thought the Lord Jesus says: I, as man, I don't know when my return will be; it's in the hands of the Father, I've left it there. But we think that God the Father has his time fixed — this is it, nobody else knows, but he knows. Isn't that the way we think? Everything is fixed; nothing can be changed. One of the cardinal propositions of Western theology is that God is unchangeable, nothing can change. After all, what does the psalmist say — you are my rock. Rocks don't change.
But if the timing is fixed, then to talk about hastening his return is nonsense. We don't even need to discuss this text. Maybe the 和合本 translator felt that way and that's why he left the word out. Well, I hope it's not the reason. We don't really know God. So when we talk about the word of God, sometimes we can't expound it properly because our understanding of God is so mistaken. I think one of these days, when we get to meet God by his grace, we will be in for a big surprise — we are going to find God quite different from what we thought him to be. Well, I hope we have a very happy surprise.
Can we hasten the return of the Lord? The answer is obviously yes — otherwise there is no point in telling us to hasten his return. Already in this passage it tells us what kind of people we need to be. In verse 9, it calls every person to repentance. And then we come to verse 14: therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these things, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.
Now, how is your relationship to one another? In your Bible study groups, in this church — if you have tensions with one another, do you dare to see the Lord if he comes? Your house is not in order. Do you dare to welcome the Lord to your house? And what about the kind of things you are doing from day to day? If you are living in sin and your life is so dirty, do you dare to see the Lord? The Bible often speaks of sin as a garment stained with sin. Do you dare to welcome the Lord with this kind of clothes on?
不怪得我们不想催促主的回来. 可能主最好晚一些回来. 我的洗衣机有一点问题, 等我把衣服洗干净了, 你才来. 这里还有一些婚礼快来了. 如果主回来了, 那我的婚礼怎样? 我已经把那件白色的礼服订了, 我也已经把订金交了, 把蜜月旅行也订了. 主啊, 请不要那么快. 我还年轻啊, 请给我多一点时间.
No wonder we don't want to hasten his return. Perhaps better that the Lord don't come back too soon. There are some weddings coming up — if the Lord comes, what happened to my wedding? I made all the arrangements. My white gown cost quite a lot of money to rent. I already put the deposit in. I booked the honeymoon trip. And the Lord comes and ruins all my plans. So Lord, don't be in a hurry. I've got lots of things to do yet. I'm young. Wait till I'm older. Please take your time.
# How to Hasten the Lord's Return (Part B) — Anathema, the Widow's Two Mites, and Total Devotion That Attracts the Lord's Coming
[Note: This is a bilingual sermon. The pastor speaks in English and the content is then rendered in Chinese by a translator. Both languages are preserved as delivered. This is the continuation of 393a.]
Who wants to hasten the coming of the Lord? Those who want to serve the Lord say: I haven't even got there yet. When the Lord comes, I have nothing to show. I haven't finished my training. It's alright for the pastors here — they've got a church to show. But I haven't done anything yet. And even better reasons: my father hasn't come to the Lord yet, my mother hasn't believed in you yet. She might take ten years. I'm working on it. I'm praying every day. So Lord, don't come back yet. When we talk about all this, I can begin to understand why nobody ever features a message on hastening the Lord's return. Who wants to hasten his return? Shall we stop?
But here it is written — so I have to spend a few more minutes before I close. There is one more terrible sentence in the Bible. There are some terrible sentences in the Bible. It's not really fair that the Bible has this kind of sentence. Paul at the end of 1 Corinthians says: if any man does not love the return of the Lord Jesus, let him be anathema. He uses the powerful Greek word anathema — condemned. Terrible. How can you ask that anybody be condemned? He just said he doesn't love the Lord's return. It's not like he doesn't love the Lord. He loves his mother to be saved. He has to wait. And Paul says: if you don't love the Lord's return, you are in God's eyes anathema?
How can the apostle who wrote 1 Corinthians 13 write words like this in the same letter? Very simple. Because whether or not we hasten the Lord's coming shows whether we really love the Lord or not. You know why he says anathema? Because it shows whether you and I are hypocrites or not. We say we love the Lord. But we don't want him to come back soon. There you are — that is hypocrisy.
It is exactly like me saying to my wife: I love you, darling. But please don't come back to Canada — the air in Hong Kong is bad, and you have to pass through all those polluted areas. And in Canada the air is so good, beautiful and clean. The climate is a bit cold but very dry — not so much danger of getting rheumatic problems. And there is lots of space, you don't have to fight with people. So I say to my wife: don't come back, just stay in Canada, it's much nicer there. Of course it's true — it is nicer in Canada, nothing to argue about. And so I can say to the Lord Jesus: heaven is much nicer than here, where I'm trying to get there. You don't want to come here. We are all trying to migrate there — what are you coming here for? Here there is war, sin, crime. Oh, you don't want to come here, just stay there. Just bring me there, you don't have to come back here.
Actually I was going to ask another question which I had been prepared to preach on, but I changed the subject as I waited on the Lord. What I was going to preach on was precisely this question: why does the Lord Jesus come back? Why is there a second coming? Have you ever thought about that question? We can all go to heaven — he doesn't have to come back to fetch us. He can just bring us there. What does he come back for? Maybe I'll leave that question for you to think about and tell me next time.
So let us hurry on for a few more minutes with this subject. To hasten his coming — do we really love the Lord? If we do, we would hasten his coming. If not, there is no way we want to hasten his coming. That is the acid test of whether we really love him or just say these things.
Would you say: Lord, for me, my wedding is very important? And there is nothing wrong with that. I'm looking forward to that day with joyful expectation. But if you have this great joy for your wedding, can you also say to the Lord: if you come back, I will be even happier? God is like that — he is a God of great joy. If he comes back, that would be an even greater joy. He will give us a joy far greater than even your wedding could be. Can we see that the return of the Lord is even more wonderful? It would make any wedding look something very ordinary. When he comes back, any earthly wedding becomes very, very ordinary. Maybe you don't want to hasten his return because you don't know the glory and the joy of that occasion — and maybe because you don't know how wonderful he is, much better than your bride or bridegroom.
His return is often compared to a wedding feast — the great messianic feast — and that would be a glorious occasion. So what can we do? The first thing is to have this joyful desire for his return. And it is also told us in verse 14 that we need to have holiness. Holiness is itself a special kind of love. And that love must be translated into our lives.
Now I want to close very quickly. I had to spend so much time to prepare the way for my message before I could even get to it — first having to explain why the text doesn't even exist in the Chinese translation. The Lord tells us that many things need to happen before his return — in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. And I wonder when you looked at these passages whether you noticed something else — something quite puzzling. Have you ever noticed that the first few verses of Luke 21 start with a widow? And the same thing happens in Mark — again the same reference to a widow giving her two little coins in the temple. In both Mark chapter 12 and Luke chapter 21, just before the great discourse about the Lord's return, there is this account of a widow giving two mites. What has a widow got to do with all this?
I used to think about this and I couldn't understand. Why is there in both cases this talk about a widow? A widow is nobody, isn't it? Her two coins worth nothing. And the widow is nobody in the world, and her two coins worth nothing. Then why, just before these great discourses on the Lord's return, is there this reference to this matter? It is not coincidental. So what is the connection?
The widow expressed her total love for the Lord. In giving her two coins, she gave her whole livelihood. The Lord said: she gave her whole livelihood. What is important here — just to notice today — is that the whole discourse about the Lord's coming is prefaced by the expression of the total love of a widow and those two little coins. Those two little coins were the smallest available coin in Palestine — even smaller than a Hong Kong ten-cent coin. But it was the total amount of money that she had. She had two coins; she could have given one. In giving one she would have given half of everything she had — and that is already remarkable. She gave two, and she has nothing left. It is with this particular striking devotion of the widow that the discourse about the Lord's coming then begins in both gospels.
Can you get the point? Can you see what the Lord is saying? If anyone wanted to hasten the Lord's return, surely the widow would have done so. How do we hasten the return of the Lord? What does this widow have in her relationship to the Lord? It is total commitment. Everything she had — the whole livelihood, as the Lord said — offered to him.
How is our attitude to the Lord? I find that sometimes if I give ten percent of what I have, I think I'm quite good. If I give twenty percent, I think I'm really something. But if I had only two little coins and I gave one, I think I would have expressed tremendous love for the Lord, wouldn't you? It is simply unreasonable to give two when you only have two. So if you give two — actually, this is not appropriate, this is too extreme. And today we have constant attack on the extreme, the too radical. Christianity in Hong Kong is very moderate. No radicalism is very common. Can you imagine that if we are like this widow, we would welcome the Lord's return?
We live in the age of Laodicea, and what does that do? Lukewarm. Moderate. Lukewarm is just right — not too hot, not too cold. It doesn't burn your tongue, it doesn't freeze your throat. And the Lord is very unreasonable, because if it is warm it is comfortable to drink. But the Lord says: if you are lukewarm I spit you out. Either boil or freeze. Don't be lukewarm. That is asking you to be radical again.
Yesterday I was trying to fix the holder in the shower. The thing that holds the shower head was so loose that it would come right out of the wall. One day I was taking a shower and the shower head went for a walk — it somehow managed to find its way outside the bath curtain. Because the water was on and the pressure was on, it just flew right out and washed my whole bathroom. So I was thinking: how am I going to fix this thing? The screw was loose. And the solution to the problem was amazingly simple — a toothpick. In fact, I only needed half a toothpick. I took the screw out, pushed the half toothpick in, and screwed it in very tight. Last night I had a shower and my shower head did not run away from me. Just a very small thing that solved the whole problem.
Who will despise the day of small things? That is what Zechariah 4:10 says. Just a widow? Just two coins? Just half a toothpick? Sometimes we think we will please the Lord when we do something really great — when we become like the Apostle Paul. And that takes a long time. So Lord, don't hurry to come back, it's going to take me thirty years to become like Apostle Paul. But the Lord only wants you to be like the widow. Maybe that is not so glamorous — but let me tell you, that is what he is looking for before his return.
How many of us can become the Apostle Paul? But surely all of us can please the Lord like this widow. And that will hasten his return. God is influenced by what we think and feel and do — that is the amazing thing. I can show you many places in scripture that teach this very thing. Our lives can be very meaningful because everything I feel and do and think influences what he will do.
If the whole church thinks like this widow — and lives like this — it will so attract the Lord Jesus. So powerfully. He will be anxious to come to us. Indeed, through our devotion to him — and that devotion comes from him in the first place — through our devotion to him we can hasten his return. That is why the account of the widow occurs in both Mark and Luke, just before the great discourse of Christ's return. We often think we are so small and so insignificant. How can you and I in any way influence God's decisions? If you think that way, think again about these two accounts of the widow.
God is so different from what we expect. He is influenced by what we think and feel. That shows that our lives can be very meaningful — everything I feel and do and think influences what he will do. That is amazing. But only if God's fire burns in our hearts. Only if we are like this widow, with nothing too precious for us to offer to the Lord. Let me tell you — if the whole church thinks like this and lives like this, it will attract the Lord Jesus so powerfully that it will hasten his return. Please be quiet before God in prayer.