![\"Second](\"http:\/\/www.all-creatures.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/lambleft.jpg\")
<\/a>A Sermon Delivered to
\nThe Compassion Internet Church<\/p>\n
30 November 2014<\/p>\n
Frank L. Hoffman, Pastor<\/p>\n
Scripture References:<\/p>\n
Psalm 80:1\u201319
\nIsaiah 64:1\u201312
\nMark 13:24\u201327<\/p>\n
Second coming advent of Jesus Christ is really what we are to be celebrating at this time of the year.<\/p>\n
Today is the first Sunday of Advent, which looks to the coming of Jesus Christ, our Savior, not so much as He came some 2,000 years ago as a new born baby, but mostly to His future majestic coming with great power and glory.<\/p>\n
It is this second coming that gives us real hope that all the evil upon this earth, mostly manifested in our warring madness and the abominations that are committed upon innocent animals, most of whom our fellow human beings eat, will one day come to an end.<\/p>\n
This travesty of not living in God\u2019s heavenly will costs the lives of millions of our fellow human beings and billions of animals every year.<\/p>\n
And unfortunately most professing Christians celebrate these holidays by dining upon the tortured remains of a once living animal that wanted to live just as much as we do.<\/p>\n
By doing this, these people are blaspheming God and honoring the devil, just as we used to do many years ago.<\/p>\n
We need to turn away from such things and begin to truly honor the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, and seek His second coming in peace and truth.<\/p>\n
With these things in mind, let\u2019s take a look at Psalm 80:1-19\u2026<\/p>\n
1. Oh, give ear, Shepherd of Israel,
\nThou who dost lead Joseph like a flock;
\nThou who art enthroned above the cherubim, shine forth!<\/p>\n
We believe the writer of this prayer, this psalm, really wanted the people to truly entreat God this way, but unfortunately it appears that the people in those days, thousands of years ago, were very much like the ungodly people of today.<\/p>\n
But the psalmist, in hope, continues to write\u2026<\/p>\n
2. Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up Thy power,
\nAnd come to save us!<\/p>\n
This is like our future hope of Jesus\u2019 second coming.<\/p>\n
3. O God, restore us,
\nAnd cause Thy face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.<\/p>\n
Then the psalmist says something that indicates that he really knows the true nature of the people.<\/p>\n
4. O LORD God of hosts,
\nHow long wilt Thou be angry with the prayer of Thy people?<\/p>\n
5. Thou hast fed them with the bread of tears,
\nAnd Thou hast made them to drink tears in large measure.<\/p>\n
6. Thou dost make us an object of contention to our neighbors;
\nAnd our enemies laugh among themselves.<\/p>\n
The people had brought all this tragedy upon themselves, and God allowed them to live in it, just as He is doing today, and unfortunately relatively few people recognize it.<\/p>\n
7. O God of hosts, restore us,
\nAnd cause Thy face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.<\/p>\n
But God seems to be saying, No! At least not until we truly repent and change our ways to coincide with God\u2019s heavenly will, and help bring true peace to the world for every human and other animal.<\/p>\n
8. Thou didst remove a vine from Egypt;
\nThou didst drive out the nations, and didst plant it.<\/p>\n
9. Thou didst clear the ground before it,
\nAnd it took deep root and filled the land.<\/p>\n
10. The mountains were covered with its shadow;
\nAnd the cedars of God with its boughs.<\/p>\n
11. It was sending out its branches to the sea,
\nAnd its shoots to the River.<\/p>\n
Yes, God lovingly did all of this, but the people didn\u2019t appreciate it or honor God; instead they rejected God\u2019s will and continued to follow the ungodly ways of the world.<\/p>\n
So the psalmist questions God about why He rejects these people.<\/p>\n
12. Why hast Thou broken down its hedges,
\nSo that all who pass that way pick its fruit?<\/p>\n
13. A boar from the forest eats it away,
\nAnd whatever moves in the field feeds on it.<\/p>\n
Because of our human disobedience, God has removed most of His hedge of protection and the good He did for the people.<\/p>\n
But the psalmist continues to plead with the Lord\u2026<\/p>\n
14. O God of hosts, turn again now, we beseech Thee;
\nLook down from heaven and see, and take care of this vine,<\/p>\n
15. Even the shoot which Thy right hand has planted,
\nAnd on the son whom Thou hast strengthened for Thyself.<\/p>\n
16. It is burned with fire, it is cut down;
\nThey perish at the rebuke of Thy countenance.<\/p>\n
This psalm is telling us that God doesn\u2019t respond to prayers that are coupled to evil intent and disobedience.<\/p>\n
But God does honor repentance and obedience.<\/p>\n
17. Let Thy hand be upon the man of Thy right hand,
\nUpon the son of man whom Thou didst make strong for Thyself.<\/p>\n
18. Then we shall not turn back from Thee;
\nRevive us, and we will call upon Thy name.<\/p>\n
19. O LORD God of hosts, restore us;
\nCause Thy face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.
\nNASB<\/p>\n
All through history, we have seen the nation whom God blessed turn against their Lord and Savior and follow their own ways and not God\u2019s.<\/p>\n
So God doesn\u2019t seem to be doing this anymore; this time He wants us to repent and change our ways, first; but relatively few people seem to be doing this with more than words.<\/p>\n
They are not seeking to free creation from its present corruption; instead they continue to corrupt the world and cause horrible suffering in their wake.<\/p>\n
This is why we are looking forward to the second coming of Jesus Christ, for when He returns, He will restore all things to conform to God\u2019s creation and heaven intent.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s now take a look at Isaiah 64:1-12\u2026<\/p>\n
1. Oh, that Thou wouldst rend the heavens and come down,
\nThat the mountains might quake at Thy presence \u2014<\/p>\n
2. As fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil \u2014
\nTo make Thy name known to Thine adversaries,
\nThat the nations may tremble at Thy presence!<\/p>\n
3. When Thou didst awesome things which we did not expect,
\nThou didst come down, the mountains quaked at Thy presence.<\/p>\n
The people may say with their mouth that they want God to restore things to the way they were, but through their deeds they say that they would rather have the lust of the world, or perhaps both; and such things are not acceptable to God.<\/p>\n
4. For from of old they have not heard nor perceived by ear,
\nNeither has the eye seen a God besides Thee,
\nWho acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him.<\/p>\n
The people have not listened to God, neither do they seem to notice all of the great things the Lord has done, and as a result, they have missed out on all of the good that God had for them.<\/p>\n
And, this continues to happen even to this present day.<\/p>\n
5. Thou dost meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness,
\nWho remembers Thee in Thy ways.
\nBehold, Thou wast angry, for we sinned,
\nWe continued in them a long time;
\nAnd shall we be saved?<\/p>\n
The answer is, No!<\/p>\n
6. For all of us have become like one who is unclean,
\nAnd all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;
\nAnd all of us wither like a leaf,
\nAnd our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.<\/p>\n
7. And there is no one who calls on Thy name,
\nWho arouses himself to take hold of Thee;
\nFor Thou hast hidden Thy face from us,
\nAnd hast delivered us into the power of our iniquities.<\/p>\n
8. But now, O LORD, Thou art our Father,
\nWe are the clay, and Thou our potter;
\nAnd all of us are the work of Thy hand.<\/p>\n
This is what people say they want, but at the same time they don\u2019t really seem to want God to mold them into the people He wants us to be: a people who have rejected the ungodly ways of the world with all its bloodshed and death, and become the peacemaking children of God that He wants us to be.<\/p>\n
9. Do not be angry beyond measure, O LORD,
\nNeither remember iniquity forever;
\nBehold, look now, all of us are Thy people.<\/p>\n
We believe that the Lord is really looking at us, and He remains angry because of all the horrible things we, as a society, are doing to His beautiful creation, including what we are doing to our fellow human beings and the billions of animals.<\/p>\n
God\u2019s true people are not the ones who cause so much bloodshed.<\/p>\n
Unless we turn from our evil ways and become true loving, compassionate, and peacemaking children of God for the benefit of the whole of creation, He will not hear us or forget about our iniquity.<\/p>\n
10. Thy holy cities have become a wilderness,
\nZion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.<\/p>\n
11. Our holy and beautiful house,
\nWhere our fathers praised Thee,
\nHas been burned by fire;
\nAnd all our precious things have become a ruin.<\/p>\n
12. Wilt Thou restrain Thyself at these things, O LORD?
\nWilt Thou keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?
\nNASB<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t believe that God is doing any more to this world than our fellow human beings are doing to the animals whom God directed us to protect and care for.<\/p>\n
And, we believe that this is the reason that in Mark 13:24-27, the Lord tells us that His second coming will not occur until after the great tribulation, for we are not worthy of being raptured from the earth beforehand.<\/p>\n
24. “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light,<\/p>\n
25. and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken.<\/p>\n
26. “And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.<\/p>\n
This is the second coming of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n
27. “And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth, to the farthest end of heaven.<\/p>\n
Only at this time will there be any rapture, and then only for His elect, those who are the peacemaking children of God.<\/p>\n
And they will join the animals in heaven.<\/p>\n
This is our hope in His second coming.<\/p>\n
Amen.<\/p>\n
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