Living in Anticipation | Sunday, August 31, 2025

But before we get into what I want to share today, I do want to express my gratitude to everybody here at the church for all the prayer. I have had people drop by my office and my house, and I have received a lot of phone calls, emails, text messages, cards, and flowers. My office here at the church right now smells like a bouquet of flowers, and it actually smells really good. I am just so grateful to all of you for the prayers, and I think I can say that for my family as well—not just for myself, but for my parents, my wife, our kids, my brothers, my sister, and our extended family. We are so grateful for all the ways that you have blessed us with your prayers and encouragement over the last week and a half since I shared with you about the loss of my brother, Danny.

I have also had a lot of questions about when we will be doing a service and whether we will be having one. We certainly will eventually have a service; we are still trying to work out all the details for that. We will let you know when the service for my brother will be, and everyone is invited to come when we ultimately have that service.

This week, I do want to take some time to close out the service on our series in the Nicene Creed. We'll get to that in a moment, but there are a lot of other things going on, as this is the last day of August and the day before Labor Day. We have a holiday tomorrow, and a new month is starting. We will be getting back to the Gospel of Luke. We paused our study in the Gospel of Luke at the beginning of the summer so that we could take this time to go through our summer series. Next Sunday, we will start back in the Gospel of Luke, picking up in about Luke chapter 5, and we will be going through the text there.

Additionally, a week from tomorrow, we are planning to start our life groups. Today, after the service, as you saw in the announcements, we will have a meeting for anyone interested in being a life group facilitator or a life group host. It is a really easy thing to do—just open up your home and spend some time in sermon-based discussion groups, going through the text, praying for one another, and encouraging one another so that we can grow more fully in our faith. If you are interested in being a host or a facilitator, right after the third service today, Pastor Mark will be conducting a short meeting on how to be a group leader.

I am the facilitator or host in Room Six here at the church. If you're interested in being a part of a Life Group, I hope that you will consider joining one. You can visit our website at ccchurch.com/lifegroups, which will provide you with updates on where those groups are located, when they meet, and how to get in touch with the people who are leading them. This is a great way for you to grow in your faith.

We believe that we grow in our faith as we go through the Scriptures together. When we gather on Sunday mornings, we worship, pray, and serve together, engaging in various activities. However, our growth and discipleship do not stop when we leave here on Sunday morning. It should continue as we gather with one another outside of our corporate gatherings. There is no better place to do that than within a Life Group, although we also have other groups available. We have Connect Groups, Prayer Groups, and some of the guys get together for mountain biking. Others meet for walking and praying, among various other activities. There are many different ways for you to plug in and be a part of our community.

One of the upcoming events mentioned in our announcements and on our website at ccchurch.com/events is the Newcomers Dessert. This event will not be held at the church; it will take place at my home on September 21st. If you are new to the church and would like to get to know us better, please make sure to check out the Newcomers Dessert.

On the evening of Sunday, September 28th, we will have an event I am calling an Evening of Eschatology. I have received many questions, and some of the topics we will discuss today as we go through the text of the Nicene Creed will address issues related to the future. I will take some time on September 28th to talk about eschatology, sharing my views and our church's perspective on matters concerning the end times. I will likely spend about an hour, maybe a little more, discussing what I see in the Scriptures regarding eschatology, and then we will open it up for a question-and-answer session.

We have a lot happening here at the church in the coming weeks, including Life Groups, the Newcomers Dessert, and the Evening of Eschatology. Additionally, we have our camping trip coming up in October. There are all kinds of activities planned as we move into a new season, and the holiday season will be here before we know it. But before we jump into all those things, we have been...

This summer, I have been looking at the Scriptures as they relate to the Nicene Creed. I hope that this series has been a blessing as we have gone through it and reflected on some of the things we believe about God: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. These beliefs are very important as we ground our faith in the Scriptures.

I have shared that the Nicene Creed builds a statement about what Christians have believed for the past 1,700 years, rooted in the Bible. We have been trying to look at how these beliefs come from the Scriptures. However, one of the things I want to focus on today, as we close out this series, is not just what we believe about future things, but how those beliefs—the things we hold in our hearts and minds—affect the way we live within the church.

As we do this, I will ask you to stand. This is a bit unusual since none of you are actually in these seats right now, but you will be as we proceed. We are going to stand, and I will lead you through a video to read the Nicene Creed together. We will put it up on the screen as we go through this.

At this point, I am, by faith, saying that you are standing. Let’s read this together:

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father. God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being with the Father. Through Him, all things were made. For us men and for our salvation, He came down from heaven by the power of the Holy Spirit. He became incarnate of the Virgin Mary and was made man. For our sake, He was crucified under Pontius Pilate. He suffered death and was buried. On the third day, He rose again in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son, He is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy Catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for...

The forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

God, as we are gathered here this morning at the end of the summer, which marks the 1700th anniversary of this statement that we just read together, I pray that we would see how these things that we hold in our hearts and minds—these beliefs that we proclaim—would have a transforming and effective work in our lives. I ask that you would continue, by the working of your Spirit and your Word, to transform us by the renewing of our minds so that we can display in our lives what is your good and perfect will.

So, God, make us more like you. That is my hope and my prayer. As I go through the Scriptures personally and share these things with the church, my desire is that we would grow more like you. Make us fruitful. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Of course, you can be seated by faith.

As I mentioned before we read the creed a moment ago, we are going to focus our attention this morning on the end of the creed, specifically the last 17 words: "We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come." Amen.

I would say that for more than a few people, the concept that these words focus on—the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come—are perhaps the most fascinating words of the creed for a certain segment of people. American Protestant evangelical Christianity, the community that we are a part of as a church, has become increasingly enamored with topics related to the resurrection of the dead, future things, and the life of the world to come over the last quarter century.

There has been a significant focus in American culture on eschatology, especially in my lifetime. I am 45 years old, and looking back over my lifetime and a little before that, it is clear that this focus is not limited to just the last half-century; it spans much of American history within the Christian context.

History in America is what we would call the millennium. It is focused on the millennium and the second coming. It centers on all the things that will take place upon the earth when Christ returns and establishes His kingdom. This theme has dominated much of the attention of the American Christian focus, especially in the last 50 years, but throughout its history as well.

When you think about Christianity as a whole, for the last 2,000 years, Christians have been living in expectation of Christ's second coming. This expectation is reflected in a statement that goes back to the very earliest days of the church, emphasizing that there is coming a day when Christ will come again. This is why we Christians have been praying for a very long time, just as we are instructed to do by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 6. Additionally, when Jesus's disciples came to Him in Luke 11 and said, "Teach us to pray," He instructed them to pray, "Your kingdom come; your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

We live in anticipation of this great, glorious future where the Lord is going to return, which the Scriptures call the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is going to come one day, and we are looking forward to this. Paul, writing to Titus, a person he raised up in the faith, said in Titus chapter 2, "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age." He continues, "Looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ."

So, along with Christians for 2,000 years, we have been living in anticipation of this great, glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. We do not know when the Lord is going to return. Jesus made it very clear that He does not even know the day or the hour, and neither do we.

However, I know that if you have been following things on some of the social media channels, there is a group of people telling us that the second coming, or what some would call the rapture of the church, is going to happen at the end of September, around the 21st to the 23rd. The reason they are saying this is that it coincides with the celebration of a Jewish feast called the Feast of Trumpets. Some people believe that the second coming will occur during this feast.

Of trumpets. I am planning on doing an evening of eschatology on September 28th. If Jesus comes and takes us out of here on September 21st to 23rd, praise the Lord! You can learn all about eschatology from Jesus Himself when we're in His presence. If that doesn't happen and He delays, then I'll see you on the 28th, and we'll gather together to talk about some of those things.

We don't know when the Lord is going to return. He made that very clear to His disciples just before He ascended into heaven in Acts chapter 1. We don't know all the details about how the Lord is going to return. Yet, for 2,000 years, Christians have been waiting for, praying for, looking for, and hoping for the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, as stated in Titus chapter 2, verse 13. Hopefully, we are continuing to do that until He comes. This is what Jesus encourages us to do in the discourse that we should be waiting for. This is exactly what the creed says: we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen. Hopefully, we would say that we are in agreement on that.

I shared a few minutes ago that I am going to talk about the details of these things a little bit more when we get together on the 28th for this evening of eschatology. However, this morning, I want to talk less about the details of the resurrection and the life of the world to come, although we will touch on some of those things. Instead, I want to focus on how the reality of the resurrection affects us. What it does in our lives in light of the resurrection. If it is true that we believe this—that we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come—then how shall we live? How shall that affect us? How shall that change how we think, how we talk, and how we look at the things that are going on in the world? What does it mean for us right now?

Several weeks ago, as we were going through the Nicene Creed together and looking at God the Father and God the Son, we said this about the Son: "For our sake, He Jesus was crucified under Pontius Pilate. He suffered death and was buried. On the third day, He rose again in accordance with the Scriptures." For centuries, Christians, just like we did a few minutes ago when we read that statement, have been...

Proclaiming and affirming their faith in Christ's resurrection, we look back to what took place 2,000 years ago, just a few days after Jesus was crucified on the cross. The tomb was found empty. His followers said that they had seen him alive after his death. Christ rose from the dead. We state clearly that we believe not only in His resurrection, which took place in the past, but we also believe that because of His resurrection, He will raise us up to be with Him forever. Just as He rose from the dead, He will cause us to rise from the dead.

If you're taking notes this morning, your sermon guide is in your bulletin. Point number one: Christ's resurrection gives me assurance and hope that death is not the end. As people have heard the news about my brother's death a little over a week and a half ago, I've had a lot of people ask me questions like, "Miles, are you doing okay?" In fact, just before I came in here to record this message, which we are recording on Thursday, one of the elders of our church, Mark Surl, came into my office and asked me how I was doing.

As he asked me that question, I responded something like, "I kind of feel like I should feel worse than I do." That's not to say that I'm not sad; I am truly sad. It's not to say that I feel good; I certainly don't feel good. However, I don't feel as bad as I would have thought I would feel had someone told me that I would be going through this. I think that has somewhat to do with the words I find in the Scriptures regarding the resurrection.

Paul, in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, makes a great statement that I love. It's so true, and I think it's part of the reason why I don't feel as bad as I would have thought I would feel. He says, "We do not sorrow as those who have no hope." I think this is so key. I've done many funerals over the years—probably more than 50 funerals over the last 26 years. One of the things I say in every one of these is that death is a part of life. Death is real, and there is a...

Finality to death really does strike us. It's very difficult for us. But at the same time, for the Christian, death is not the end. This is not always something that we are good at grasping. For the Christian, it's so much a part of their life that they do not sorrow as those who have no hope.

Right after Paul says, "We do not sorrow as those who have no hope," he writes this in 1 Thessalonians 4:14: "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep or die in Jesus." For this we say by the word of the Lord. I love this. This is not something that Paul just came up with as he was meditating upon Scripture. He says, "This we say by the word of the Lord."

This is the teaching of Christ that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep, those who die before us. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus, we shall always be with the Lord.

Here’s the key, and this is the part that I think is so important for us to grasp. The last verse in this section, verse 18, states, "Therefore, comfort one another with these words." You can't miss that as he talks about us not sorrowing as those who have no hope. He grounds our hope in the resurrection of Christ and what He is going to do for us in death, that we will be with Him in death. He says, "Comfort one another with these words."

It is through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures that we have hope, says Paul in Romans 15:4. The Scriptures bring us comfort because they reveal this reality that we would not know if it were not for the revelation of Scripture—that we have a future hope. It's not just spoken of here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, but it's also picked up by Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

1 Corinthians 15 is a huge section of Scripture that deals with the hope of the resurrection. It begins with those great statements of the gospel: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. Then He was seen by witnesses, and then Paul goes into this...

In 1 Corinthians chapter 15, Paul discusses the resurrection and its significance for us. He brings it to a close in verse 51, saying, "Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep," which is a metaphor for death. "But we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet." He also mentions the trumpet in 1 Thessalonians 4. "For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible, this corrupted mortal body shall put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality."

When this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, "Death is swallowed up in victory." In verse 55, he asks, "Oh death, where is your sting? Oh Hades, where is your victory?" He explains that "the sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Take careful note of what Paul says at the end of verse 54: "Death is swallowed up in victory." If you're taking notes, point number two is that Christ's resurrection removes the fear and sting of death. Death, anxiety, and fear are very real, and many people, including Christians, suffer from them. Death is deadly to your body; this body is not going to survive death. However, this body is not all that you are. You are more than just your body. God made you a body and a soul, and some would say a body, soul, and spirit. There is a difference of opinion among Christian theologians about whether you are a dichotomy (two parts: body and soul) or a trichotomy (body, soul, and spirit).

While this distinction is important, what you believe about it is not the most crucial thing. It is essential to recognize that you are more than just your body. Paul states in 1 Corinthians that to be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord. Someday, this body is going to die. Unless the Lord comes and takes us out of here before this body dies, we all face death—10 out of 10 people die. This body will die, but my soul will be instantly with the Lord. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. However, your body is not...

Looking forward to that, death, anxiety, and fear are very real. Most people, when surveyed, identify their number one fear as being death. It is completely understandable to be fearful of death. However, we can have the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, which guards our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.

When Paul, in Philippians chapter 4, talks about our hearts and our minds, he is referring to our souls. Our souls are where we truly experience anxiety, worry, and concern. While our bodies may feel these emotions as well, it is our souls that grasp the anxiousness. Yet, in Christ Jesus, because of the resurrection, we can experience the peace of God that surpasses all understanding. This peace has no earthly explanation; it guards our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. Because of the resurrection, my soul can be at rest. I have hope in my future resurrection as I contemplate these real realities.

We do not only look back in remembrance of Christ's resurrection. The statement of the creed says we look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. So, I have to ask: Do you look forward to it? Are you anticipating and living in expectation of the redemption of your soul, the resurrection that God is going to bring about? Or do you have anxiety and fear of death?

As I mentioned, we all have a certain level of anxiety. But for the Christian, we have a peace that cannot be perfectly explained, even when we think about death. For us, death is not a stop; it is not total finality. There is life after this. We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.

If you have an overwhelming fear of death that binds you, causing you to live under the bondage of that fear, the author of the book of Hebrews writes about this in his letter. If you live under the weight of that fear and have no hope of life beyond this, you need to get to know and be introduced to Christ, the only one who has experienced this resurrection and promises resurrection to us. So we live.

In expectation of this, in John 14:19, Jesus says, "A little while longer and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live also." He gives this promise to his disciples just before he is going to be crucified the next day and then buried in a tomb. He knows that he is going to live after that. He has already prophesied that he will rise from the dead three days after his crucifixion.

This is why Jesus could say to his disciples, who were troubled about the prospect of his death and no doubt anxious about their own death someday in the future, "Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. Were it not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also."

That's such a great testimony, such a great truth. Every time I do a funeral, I share those verses. Another passage I share at every funeral I do is from John 11. In this chapter, Jesus goes to the town of Bethany, where his friend Lazarus and Lazarus's two sisters, Mary and Martha, lived. Lazarus had died, and Jesus goes to Bethany and has this conversation with Lazarus's sister Martha.

He says to her in John 11:20, "As soon as Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to him. Mary was still sitting at the house." In verse 21, Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." She believed that Jesus could have healed him from the illness that ultimately took his life. "But even now I know that whatever you ask God, God will give you."

Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." He speaks this great prophetic promise that Lazarus will rise again. Martha replied, "I know that he will rise again at the resurrection in the last day." Then come these famous words from Jesus, one of the great "I am" statements of the Gospel of John. Jesus said to her in John 11:25, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?"

Point number three: Christ's resurrection brings comfort to those who sorrow and grieve over death.

And the key question that Jesus finishes that statement to Martha with is the key question that every single one of us needs to meditate on. Look at the end of verse 26. He says, "Whoever lives and believes in me shall never die." And here's the question: Do you believe this?

If you don't believe in Christ and you don't believe in His resurrection, it makes all the sense in the world that you would be anxious and fearful over death. It makes all the sense in the world that you would grieve and sorrow over the death of a loved one if you don't believe these things. Death is very troubling to those who do not believe. But for those who have faith, the resurrection gives hope, comfort, peace, and joy even in sorrow. We don't sorrow as those who have no hope. Notice that Paul says we don't sorrow. That would be false. But we do not sorrow as those who have no hope. We have this absolute certainty, not wishful thinking, but an absolute certainty that those who die in Christ are with Christ. And when we die in Christ, we will be with Christ as well.

So let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God. For the last every Sunday this summer, we have made that statement together: We believe in God the Father Almighty. We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.

Therefore, because we believe these things, what does the very last section of the Nicene Creed say? We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. We're not weirdos looking forward to death; we're looking forward to the life that is to come. I love that—the life of the world to come.

What is the life that is to come? Well, Jesus says in John 3:16, "It is everlasting life," or sometimes translated as eternal life. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting or eternal life." Not only is it everlasting and eternal life, but Jesus refers to it as abundant life. In John 10:10, He says, "The thief has come to steal, to kill, and to destroy, but I have come that you may have life."

That you may have it more abundantly. Or another translation says, "Life to its fullest." The life in the world to come is a life in the presence of God. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, Paul says in 1 Corinthians.

So, what is life in the presence of God like? Psalm 16:11 states, "You will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy, and at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." Life in the world to come is fullness of joy—joy inexpressible, full of glory. It is a life without sorrow, without pain, without sickness, and without death.

John the Apostle, when he received the revelation that is the last book of the Bible, had this vision of the paradise of the future world to come, the one that we are looking forward to in anticipation and hope. He writes this in Revelation 21: "Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."

I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle, the dwelling place of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God."

Here is the picture of us with God in His presence. What will we experience? Verse four states, "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."

Point number four: Christ's resurrection ensures future glory. That is what we have been assured by the Scripture. We have the assurance of these things. As I said, it is not a hope that is wishful thinking. It is not a blind optimistic hope; it is an absolute certainty.

So that Paul could say, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present world," Romans 8:18, "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us." Or Philippians 3:20, "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ."

Transform this lowly body that it may be conformed into His glorious body according to the working by which He is able to subdue all things to Himself. In light of all this, as I said at the very beginning of this message, I want to focus not just on the details of these things, but I want to fix our attention today as we start to wrap it up with what this means for us. How should this affect the way that I live? I have this understanding, this knowledge because of who God is and what God has done.

This is what we're discovering in the Nicene Creed. We get to learn who God is: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We get to learn what God has done. Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. He was buried, He rose again, and He ascended into heaven. He is seated at the right hand of glory. One day, He is going to return to judge the living and the dead. Because of who God is, because of what He has done, and because of how He has rescued and saved us, redeeming us from sin and death, we must consider how we shall respond. What should be my response to these things?

While Paul closes 1 Corinthians 15, after that very long section dealing with the resurrection, he writes in 1 Corinthians 15:58, "Therefore, because of all this, because we know the truth about the resurrection, that Christ died and rose and that we will be resurrected with Him one day, therefore, because of this," Paul says, "My beloved, be steadfast." I love that. Like in Ephesians, where Paul says that we are not like children tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine and cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, we are to be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain.

The author of the book of Hebrews, in Hebrews 10:19, begins with the word "therefore" as well. Because of all this, therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus and by a new and living way which He consecrated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience.

Our bodies are washed with pure water. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling, the gathering together of ourselves, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much more as we see the day approaching.

What day? As we wrap up this statement of the Nicene Creed, we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. We are looking for that day approaching. Maybe it's a day specifically marked out for you, when you will breathe your last breath in this life and, immediately because of what Christ has done for you, you will breathe your first breath in eternity in His presence. Maybe that's the day. Or perhaps it is the day when Christ returns. Glory to God! That would be an awesome thing when He returns in the clouds, in the same way that He ascended into the clouds. That day is approaching, and we are looking forward to it.

But until that day, let us press on. Let us stir one another up to love and good deeds. Again, the author of the book of Hebrews, in Hebrews chapter 12, writes: "Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. This is a common theme as we look forward to seeing Christ in His presence and as we run this race. The encouragement and exhortation to Christians running the race— that’s you and me— is to be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in the Lord, pressing on, and pursuing Him while laying aside every weight and sin, not being discouraged in Him.

In Galatians 6:9, we read, "And let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season you shall reap if you do not lose heart." Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those of the household of faith. We need to be pressing on and continuing the work.

Honestly, in light of everything that my family has been going through for the last ten days or so, these verses, as I went through them this week, are such a great encouragement to me. I found myself, as I was studying through this and putting this message together, remembering verses that I know very well and have shared many times before. They are just an encouragement to me.

It's all because of the text that we're in, which speaks of the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. These verses serve as a great reminder to me, and hopefully, they are a reminder to you as well of the joy we have even in sorrow because we have this great hope of eternity being with the Lord. There are so many other passages I could turn to in order to drive home this point.

Point number five, and I'll try to wrap it up: Christ's resurrection encourages our present faith and faithfulness. We saw it there in Hebrews 12, which says, "For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls." It is so easy to become weary and discouraged in your soul. As you look at your present circumstances, the things that you and your family are going through, the happenings in your workplace or on the school campus you are at, or just in the culture we live in, it’s easy to become weary and discouraged.

Sometimes, it’s easy to think, "Oh gosh, it’s not worth putting in all this effort. My labor is in vain." Yet, we are told in Galatians 6 that if we do not faint and continue to persist and endure, we shall reap if we do not faint. So, we need to press on and continue doing the work, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. His resurrection encourages our present faith and faithfulness.

This last Wednesday, as I am recording this just yesterday, I was sitting in my office when I got a phone call from my friend Jared. His 16-year-old daughter died of cancer earlier this year, and he had just heard the news about my brother Danny. He called to express his condolences, and as we were on the phone, he said, "Miles, I'm sorry. I don't even have the words." I replied, "Well, I don’t think you really need to have any words. Just the fact that you called..."

Was an encouragement to me. But the greater blessing than anything that any person could say is one of the awesome things about the body of Christ. When we're going through difficult times or great times, we weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice. Sometimes, you don't need to have the right words. You don't need to come up with the right words. Sometimes, it's just going back to the words of Scripture.

I found myself, after I talked with Jared and after I had several conversations, thinking about these words from 1 Thessalonians 5. This is immediately after Paul talks about comforting one another with the words of the resurrection. In chapter 5:9, he says, "For God did not appoint us to wrath." In the creed we studied several weeks ago, we learned that Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead. When you read about eschatology and the future things, there is coming a day of God's wrath when the wrath of God will be poured out upon all ungodliness and unrighteousness of those who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. That's what Romans chapter 1 says. That is a sobering, fearful reality: the wrath of God poured out on sin.

But not for you if you're in Christ. Because Jesus, on the cross, absorbed all of God's wrath upon sin upon Himself in my place and in your place. He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might receive His righteousness. So, 1 Thessalonians 5:9 states that God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake, whether we're alive or sleep, or we die, we should live together with Him. Therefore, he says it again: comfort one another, comfort each other, and edify one another just as you also are doing.

So, my final encouragement, exhortation, and edification for you as we close out this series on the Nicene Creed is this: we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. I am sure of this: when we get there, my brother Danny is there. My friend Jared's daughter Laya is there. Your brother, sister, aunt, uncle, your mom, and your dad who has died are there.

Past, your child who you lost is there with the Lord. Comfort each other and edify one another with this. God desires that you will be with Him for eternity. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God; you believe also in Christ. He has prepared a place for you.

We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. God, I pray that You would help us to rejoice in that good news, to rejoice in You and Your power to raise us to be with You in Your presence forevermore.

God, help us to keep this in our hearts and our minds, and that Your peace, which surpasses all understanding, would guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. May we even experience joy and peace in believing, even in the midst of sorrow and grief. For we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.