The coming of the Lord

… For those who haven't been here, a few evenings we've been together, we've been looking at a few scriptures connected with the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Tonight we want to continue that theme and Paul addresses himself to Titus to give him some instructions as to the brethren in Crete. And he said, go there, I want you to appoint elders, I want you to see that everything's done in order. There was apostolic power to do that kind of thing in that day and the apostles' desire was that the saints might be kept together and walking in such a way as to please the Lord and also to bring blessing into their own lives. And this particular chapter has always a great appeal to me because apart altogether from the wonderful teaching about the coming of the Lord Jesus, there is a tremendous emphasis upon the value of teaching. Whether the word is used, teaching or doctrine, we cannot mistake the tremendous emphasis that Paul puts upon it. And that's extremely important in our day, when there is a tendency to say, well, never mind doctrine, doctrine divides, we don't get a unanimous verdict about certain things and instead of happiness and joy and love and grace towards each other, we have friction because when you emphasize doctrine, this is what happens. Well, that may be true and in fact it is true. And the sad thing is that the reason there is friction because there's no obedience to the truth. There's an endeavor to get round about it in some way or another to satisfy oneself or one's particular point of view. But we cannot avoid the tremendous emphasis that the Bible puts upon truth. My people have destroyed themselves because of the lack of knowledge, says God in the Old Testament. The Lord Jesus in his prayer to the Father, sanctify them by thy truth, thy word is truth. And here Paul, great servant of Christ that he was, is emphasizing again the value of truth and truth operating in every feature of our lives. And this has been borne in upon my soul of late in a very, very forcible way. Sometimes we ask, what's wrong with our meetings? There's no power, there's no blessing. And if we want to know what's wrong with our meetings, the answer is very simple, ourselves. Because what constitutes our meetings is the individual exercise. That is the main thing that we require. Every soul exercised coming along to the meeting, praying about the meeting before we go and bringing a contribution of moral and spiritual worth. And if we think that coming to the meeting is the end all and be all of our Christian lives, we're making a sad mistake. And that is not in any way decrying the value of meetings. We all enjoy coming along and having fellowship with each other. But it is what we are individually, what we are in our homes, what we are in our businesses, it is there that the spiritual substance and power is brought together and forms the joy and happiness and fiber of our meetings. And if in any way that's lacking failure on an individual level, failure in our homes, failure in our businesses, failure anywhere. If there is failure there, then that unfortunately creeps into the meetings. And so here in this chapter, along with the coming of the Lord, the teaching of that great event, we have teaching doctrine that affects every one of us. And first of all, Paul directs himself to Titus. Verse one, speak thou the things which become sound doctrine. It wasn't simply that Titus was being sent to Crete as an apostolic delegate. He was that with all the power of Paul behind him, Paul's authority. But when he was there as a servant of the Lord in that particular way, he was to make sure that what he preached was sound doctrine. This word sound could quite easily be translated healthy, healthy doctrine, doctrine that can stand the test, doctrine that is valuable in helping the saints of God. And here was the responsibility of a man taking a place or being given a place of service amongst the saints. He was responsible to the Lord to make sure that what he taught was the Lord's mind and wasn't of any particular bias in his own mind or to suit himself or his friends or his relatives or anything else directly responsible to the Lord to minister the truth. That's very, very important. And so any of us who have a position of this kind or an opportunity of this kind, we have to make sure that we present the word of God without any particular slant, but the truth of God as it applies in any particular way. And so Titus was directly responsible to be a teacher of sound, healthy doctrine, valuable doctrine, strong doctrine that the saints might be blessed by it. Then he comes down to the aged men, that the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, healthy in faith, if you like, in love, in patience. Aged men. I think if we read sufficiently, we would find that in all ages, those who are a little older, always deplore the young of that particular generation. They're not like they used to be when they're not like what we were when we were young. And so there's always a cry about the young. And that's true of every generation. I wonder if some of us had a video being shown of what we were like when we were young. My, I think we'd get a surprise, but aged men are to be an example to the others. And it's a very wonderful thing when the young can look upon the old brothers and say, well, now there's something to aim for, spiritual substance in their lives, good things that they say, very, very good in examples of faith, very, very fine thing to follow them. And of course, Paul was such a one. He could say, be ye followers of me as I also am of Christ. And there was no question at all about Paul being an example of the saints or an example to the saints. And so here, Paul is talking about the aged men. Bible says that aged men are not always wise. The Bible says that gray hairs are to be respected, provided that they fear the Lord. There's no particular virtue or power in being old, but there is. If that age is a time that has gathered together substance concerning the Lord Jesus, there is substance in the soul gathered up experience with the Lord. Yes, that's the kind of thing that's extremely valuable in the Christian circle. And so the aged men are being reminded here about their responsibility. Very, very good thing. If those of us who are a little older can say, yes, follow my example in the measure that I've been a follower of Christ. And he speaks about the aged women, likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh those who have to say to sacred things, not false accusers, not given too much wine, teachers of good things. Well, now, does this contradict what Paul says in another part of his ministry? You remember when he wrote to Timothy, he says, I suffer not a woman to teach. And here he's saying that the elder women are to teach good things. There's no conflict. You can't place one scripture over against another. If Paul says emphatically that he doesn't have, he doesn't want a woman to teach, then that stands. And if he says elsewhere that he wants the aged women to teach, then we have to examine, how are they to teach? And so we find him saying that they are to teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. Here is an area where aged women who are spiritual, not again, simply because they're older, but they're spiritual, they're women of worth, and they can teach the younger ones. And of course, there are many, many areas where it's far better for an older sister to teach a younger sister than for a brother to attempt to do that. Many, many areas. And it's a very, very encouraging thing when we do find sisters of spiritual worth who can do this. And we're very, very thankful that the meetings have them. I can look back over many, many years and remember the first time I went to a prayer meeting in Port Seton. And the reception I got from one dear old sister, the mother of Peter Harkis, was a very, very warm handshake indeed. And with tears running down her cheek saying, we're glad to see you, son. Well, that's the kind of thing that encourages. And not only on that occasion, but many, many other occasions. Very, very encouraging when old sisters can do their bit of teaching in their own realm, given to them by the Lord, perfectly legitimate and extremely valuable. We can think of a Priscilla, along with her husband Aquila. And they take to them Apollos, and they teach Apollos the correct way. We think of an Anna, and she spake of him, the Lord Jesus, the coming one, to all those who waited for redemption in Israel. Quiet, humble, solid, valuable teaching. No pride, no arrogance, no self-assertiveness. A humble form of teaching that's very, very valuable indeed. So it's not only the brothers who expound in the Bible readings or who stand on platforms, as I am doing this evening. That's not the only form of teaching. Thank God for the teaching that goes on in a quiet, simple, personal level. And very, very valuable indeed it is. Indeed, when I think of Naomi, I'm perfectly sure that she imparted a great deal of truth regarding the nation of Israel and Israel's God. That when the appropriate moment came, that young woman made a stand. She says, I'm not going back to my gods nor to my people. Thy God shall be my God and thy people, my people. And I believe that was a direct result of the teaching of Naomi. So you elder sisters, keep at it and be a help to the younger sisters. Those of us who are a little older, let us keep at it too and be an example and an encouragement to the younger brethren who are coming along. Now, not only do we have the Lord's servant spoken about and exhorted, nor the aged men, nor the aged women, but the homes of the saints. Certainly, specifically, it's addressing young people, young wife, young husband, children. I don't need to tell a company like this tonight, what havoc Satan is creating in the homes of the saints. A direct frontal attack continually on the homes of the saints, young believers, middle-aged believers, and sad to say, old believers too. Now, here is a circle where the truth is valued, where the word of God is read. And we all need to be aware, every one of us, we are not immune from the attacks of the enemy. And so we have to say, Lord, help us, preserve us, preserve us from the evil that's so common now that it's taken for granted, just part of modern life, but certainly not part of the Christian life. The Christian homes should be held for the Lord. Indeed, they're the bulwarks of the assembly. What's in the home comes into the assembly. And so the aged women, they are directly concerned about the young men and the young women, their homes and their children to be taught properly so that the truth might be maintained and what is proper for the honor of the Lord maintained until he comes. Those of us who are thankful for the homes that we have, let us pray earnestly for the homes where the great deal of help is required. You remember the story, I'm sure you've heard it, but I'll repeat it of a dear brother traveling by plane. And when the meal was handed to him in the plane, he bowed his head and gave thanks for it. And he noticed that the passenger sitting next to him did the same. Oh, he says, I saw that you gave thanks for your food. You're a Christian. No, he says, no, he says, I'm not a Christian. I'm a Satanist. And he said, we are praying that Satan might destroy the Christian leaders and might destroy the homes of Christians. Well, he's been mighty successful and we desire the Lord will help us in view of the coming of the Lord. I believe this is what Paul is bringing forward here as a governing factor for us to remember the Lord is coming. That being so individually and in our homes. And here we find servants to or told to be obedient to their masters. Doesn't say specifically about the masters, but without doubt that's involved in the business world. Yes. Faithful to the Lord governed by sound teaching. I just want to point this out and leave it without saying anything about it. Look at verse one, sound doctrine, the end of verse three, teachers of good things. And then in the end of verse five, no, I should say verse four, that they may teach the young women to be sober. The end of verse five, the word of God, verse seven, and doctrine showing uncorruptedness. And again, in verse 10, that they may adorn the doctrine of God. And then in verse 12, teaching us that denying ungodliness and so on. Now there are six direct references to doctrine, to the word of God, to teaching. So this emphasizes again what I'm saying. And here it's not so much teaching in the company of the saints, but teaching bearing upon our individual lives and our home lives and our business lives. And my, I think you will agree with me that if we maintain a Christian standard in these three different areas, then we're going to be sound Christians. Indeed, Satan getting no inlet anywhere into these things or these areas. So that when we come together, our hearts are free. The Holy Spirit can use us. There's nothing hindering him and his service. And my, I believe there'll be an outpouring of blessing and joy that is commensurate with the holiness of life. Now we move down to verse 11. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. This appearing, I believe could be rightly translated has shone out. And first of all, of course, we find it in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ in that marvelous pathway of his. He was the light of the world. He was the light shining in a dark place. There was a shining that surpassed anything else that had ever been in the world before the son of God coming into this world to make known the heart of God and how well he did all the love and compassion and kindness of his heart shining forth and all shining forth and all its brilliancy and producing blessing in the lives of men and women. And this was the grace of God that had appeared unto all men. There wouldn't be one of us here tonight. If that grace hadn't shown out through Christ, because eventually he died, as you know, and through that death, we are all blessed and praise God for that. And so he says it brings salvation to all men. There is a common mistake I believe that we make, and it's not a serious one, but it's still, it is a mistake that when we read salvation, we are apt to think, yes, that's my soul saved. My sins are forgiven. I'm going to heaven. Now that's perfectly true. Praise God for that. Salvation in the Bible is much more than that. And I believe that's why the apostle is referring to these very practical things. He's showing how salvation can be affected in the lives of men and women, whether they be young, middle aged or old, this grace of God that has appeared bringing salvation to all men is salvation in the fullest possible sense. Of course, the final act of that salvation, as we saw in a previous evening, is the redemption of our bodies. But here it's salvation over every form of evil as it exists in this world that affects us as believers. And so how thankful we are that Paul says, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world or age. Now it's very, very easy to think when we read an expression like this, worldly lusts. Ah, that's the depraved person, the drug addict, the drunkard, the wide beater, the criminal, worldly lusts. But if we take away that word lust and substitute for it desire, then we come, I believe, to a very comprehensive view of it. Because the depraved form of desire is one end of the spectrum, but we can have the very refined culture end of the spectrum, which is equally destructive of Christian progress. Don't let us think that because a thing is refined and it's cultured and it's very, very good in the eyes of men, that that's quite permissible for the Christian. If it hinders you and your spiritual growth, it's just as bad as the depraved end of the spectrum. The music and the culture and the entertainment and the intellectual side, everything that man boasts of in that sense, and you know what the Bible says, it can be an abomination to God. Things that men like. And so when we speak about worldly lusts, we're not thinking of the gross, immoral features that are so disgusting. We're thinking of anything and everything that belongs to man's world. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. The bad things, yes, by all means, but also the things that man thinks are wonderful. But God says, they're just the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eye. And so Paul says this teaching, this teaching is for each of us that we're to deny these things, ungodliness, anything that's opposed to God, anything that's of a worldly character that hinders our spiritual progress in this evil world. Now he says, we have to live soberly. And we believe that's binding upon each of us individually, that we have to be marked by a proper thinking mind, not intoxicated by anything of this world. The sobriety here, of course, isn't just keeping free from alcoholic drinks, but it means not to be intoxicated by anything that this poor sad world brings. To have a clear mind, able to think of what is pleasing for God, soberly living in this world, righteously or justly. That means our responsibility towards each other, towards men in general. We do our work righteously. We are not clock watchers. We're not seeking how we can avoid doing work. We do our work righteously as to the Lord, righteously in our ways, obeying the laws of the land, doing everything that's upright and sincere before men. As we said on a previous evening, Paul exercised himself to have a conscience void of offense towards God and towards man. And so when we live righteously in this world, it means in our dealings with men in every possible way. And godly, that means we live unto God. In the morning, before we leave our homes, we bow our knees and we commend ourselves to God. And we ask that we might do the things that please him, that we might be governed by them. And at night we bow our knees and we thank him for the help that he gives. And all through the day, we are reminding that we are directly responsible to God. He is the one that we live to. We are the Lord's. We belong to God. He has bought us through our Lord Jesus Christ and we belong to him and we are responsible to him. We are to serve him. You remember the Lord said this, render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, that's justly. Render unto God the things that are God's, that's godly. And so, dear friends, that is the kind of conduct that the apostle is desiring from you and from me as we wait for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. A high standard, Christianity is a high standard and we certainly should be marked by features that mark us out as people who are waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now he says, looking for that blessed hope, or it could be translated awaiting that blessed hope. We were saying the other night there that the early brethren's writings are marked by continual reference to the hope of the church. That hope, of course, is what we find here, the return of the Lord Jesus Christ for his church, the blessed hope, the hope of being with Christ forever. That involves a great deal as we've tried to show, the change of our bodies, being in a fit condition to stand beside Christ, that there might not be any incongruity between himself and the church. The church will be the product of all his work, not only the work upon the cross, but the work since he's been at the right hand of God, where he's blessed the church, he's sanctified it, he's cleansed it, and then it takes its place beside him, perfect for his gaze, suitable for him for all eternity. And so here, Paul says, we are awaiting that blessed hope. Now there are many, many hopes connected with this for the Christian, but I believe principally we should remember what Paul wrote to Timothy when he said, Christ Jesus, our hope. Whatever blessing we may get individually through the coming of the Lord, nothing can be compared to this, that we're going to be with him, we're going to be like him, we're going to see him, and we're going to be there forever. And so Christ, our hope, is the great and wonderful hope that is set before every believer. We all know what hope is. I suppose every day of our lives we hope in one way or another. There are some outstanding hopes, the young couple who hope to get married soon, the young man who has a business and hopes it prospers. We hope about our holidays, hope about special fellowship meetings, and so on. Hopes, there are plenty of them. My, this is the hope, the blessed hope. It could be translated the happy hope. Tremendous happiness involved in this hope for every one of us. And you remember Paul writing to the Colossians, he spoke about the truth of the mystery, and among other things he says, Christ in you, the hope of glory. And every feature of hope that we have is bound up in Christ and bound up in the wonderful promise of being with him in glory and like him. And there are four adjectives used in connection with this hope. We have one here, the happy hope. And could anything be more happier, more happy than being with Christ or being like him? Is it possible that anything could be better than that? I don't think so, and I'm sure you don't either. But here is the supreme happiness for the Christian, to be in the presence of Christ and like him forever. We're told in Second Thessalonians, I think it is, that it's a good hope. Now, good might be a word that we use and not think is a very strong word. We're more used to the other words, colossal, fabulous, or something of that kind. But the Bible is very, very simple, and it makes a distinction between what is good and what is bad. God is described as the good God. The Lord Jesus Christ is described as the good shepherd, and that's goodness in the superlative. And when it speaks about the good hope through grace, then we are reminded that here is a hope that transcends every other form of goodness, a good hope, and we can rest upon it and look forward to it with the greatest possible joy. In Hebrews, we are told it's a better hope, a better hope. Now, when God said to the children of Israel, I'm going to take you out from the land of bondage and I'm going to bring you into a good land, a land flowing with milk and honey, he was as good as his word. And when he brought them into the good land, he's described as a good land, they found that every word that God said about it was true. It couldn't have been otherwise. God doesn't describe things and then people find them and discover that God is not true to his word. That's impossible. It was a good land and the book of Deuteronomy describes to us what a wonderful land it was. But did they hold on to it? They forfeited the right to be in that land because of their unfaithfulness. It says Paul in the epistle to the Hebrews, we have a better hope, a better hope, transcending by far all that belong to Israel, because it's bound up in the one who came out from God and who has gone into God. And so Paul says, you're partakers of the heavenly calling. And here is a wonderful hope. It's bound up in Christ, the one who came to make God known and then went in to represent us before that God. And as we've said already, those who believe in him are partakers of a heavenly calling in direct contrast to the earthly inheritance that Israel had. And we cannot forfeit it because of our unfaithfulness. We might forfeit or lose the enjoyment of it. And we have to own through experience that that is true. But thank God in the power of the spirit, we have that now as a hope that cannot be lost, cannot be forfeited. Why? Because it's centered in Christ. He is the one who has made it secure. And we read in that same epistle that the forerunner has entered in for us the guarantee that many more will follow him, the many sons who are being led home to glory. That's why it's a better hope. And then lastly, in this respect, in first Peter, you remember again a striking contrast, a living hope, and it's connected with the resurrection of Christ from among the dead. And that's why it's living. Oh, how sad it was in Israel's case when generation after generation held on to the promises that God had given to them. And yet they had forfeited every right to it because of their idolatry and their disobedience to the word of God. And sometimes, dear friends, that's a very solemn warning to us that simply by quoting scripture, that's no indication that we can claim those promises if our moral condition is not in keeping with them. And I believe that these two things have got to go together continually, the enjoyment of the positive blessings of God in a moral condition that's fitting to them. Otherwise, we can become ritualists in the sense that we hold on to verses of scripture and ignore the responsibilities that belong to such a position. And so how wonderful to know that we have a living hope and it's centered in our Lord Jesus Christ, the living one who is out from amongst the dead. And of course, you very well know what has been often said about it, the inheritance. Age cannot affect it, time cannot affect it, and death cannot affect it, sin cannot affect it. It's so wonderful. An inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. Well, these are just a few references to the hope. And it speaks about the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Well, first of all, we speak about the appearing, spoken about the blessed hope. That means the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for his church. The glorious appearing means the public coming of our Lord Jesus when he comes to defeat the enemies that are against the nation of Israel or the remnant that's left and to set up his kingdom publicly. The outshining of his power and glory. In some portions where we get this word, it's an outshining of his majesty and glory and greatness coming to bring blessing. And in other passages, particularly in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, I think it is, that outshining is to destroy the enemies that are existing at that time. But it has to do with the public coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious appearing, and what a wonderful day that will be. In Revelation chapter 1, you remember it says, and every eye shall see him. What consternation there will be in the world when the Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified one, the rejected one, the ridiculed one, the one who is shamed today and blasphemy, caricatures of this glorious person, every conceivable thing done to denigrate him, what consternation when the world sees him shining out in power and glory. Oh, what consternation. I can visualize that scene when the great have to bow, every knee has to bow. Oh, what a tremendous turn up that will be. Think that they've neglected him in all their counsels and deliberations. No thought of what Christ thinks, and he's the heir of all. Nations have been given to him, no consideration of what he thinks, what man thinks. Oh, how awful it is, this tremendous pressing forward of man, man, man, the new age movement, self, use your potential, use your mind to greater advantage, your God. Oh, how awful. This is man coming forward in all his blatant disregard of God and of Christ. And in one moment, it will all be swept away. The glorious appearing of the great God and our savior, Jesus Christ. You remember when the Lord Jesus was standing before the high priest and when he was adjured by the high priest to say who he was, was he the son of man? Was he the son of God? Yes, he says, and you'll see me coming in power and great glory. And they blaspheme, they accused him of blaspheme, blasphemy, and they condemned him to death. And the day is not far distant when that wonderful promise, solemn promise too, will be fulfilled. The outshining of this great and glorious person in power and glory. When he came, a few shepherds, a few old people, not very many people to welcome him. When he comes for his church, millions will be there to answer to the shout. And when he comes in glory, the world will bow, be forced to bow. Revelation 19 tells us how he will come in all his glory. And who is this person? He's the great God. Here is an affirmation of the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. He's not a humble carpenter only. He was a humble carpenter. He was a humble man in this world, subject to his God. He was outwardly like any other man, but he was more than that. He was God. And he had come to declare God and to make God known. But when he comes, it won't be in humility. It will be in power. The great God and our savior, Jesus Christ. Not two persons, one glorious person. The savior here is the great God. Oh, how thankful we are for the many scriptures that tell us that he is the great God. John 1, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. We have Thomas saying to him, my Lord, my God. And the Lord Jesus doesn't rebuke him because he is God. And Romans 9 and 5, God over all, blessed forevermore. 2 Peter chapter 1, again, our God and savior, Jesus Christ. And many, many other scriptures. God manifest in flesh. God was in Christ. Many references to the deity. And perhaps one of the most profound in him, all the fullness was pleased to dwell. That could only be said of one who is God. And so this is the one who's coming at the appearing. Dear brethren, we are told to love his appearing. Paul said there will be a crown of righteousness, not only for him, but for all those who love his appearing. Why should we love his appearing? Why shouldn't we love the rapture? We should love the appearing because it will be complete and total vindication for the man of Calvary. And the one who was cast out and rejected in such a shameful way will occupy the prominent place in this world and every knee has to bow. And if we love him, then we are bound to love his appearing and look forward to that day when he will have the place that rightly belongs to him, that was denied him when he came, but will be his in power and glory in that day. Paul says he gave himself for us. I suppose we all have favorite scriptures. We like to repeat over and over again. They come easy to our lips because we love them. They mean something to us. We rest upon them in times of difficulty. We like to repeat them in times of worship. And I believe this statement by Paul was his favorite expression. He gave himself. You know that on six occasions he uses it in his writings and it brings home to us what the apostle thought of Christ. He gave himself. What could be more affecting? What could be more winning to remember that he gave himself for us here? Of course, it has a very great challenge. He gave himself for us that he might redeem us or liberate us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. And I believe it's a tremendous joy to the heart of Christ to look down into this corrupt, evil world and see a company of people, the church that really belongs to him, the vital part of the church. I'm not talking about the professing church that can contain so much that's spurious and unreal. I'm talking about the church, every true believer in Christ, to find them here in this world, walking in a way purified from all that's defiling and doing the things that please him while they wait for him. Like servants awaiting their master. That's very, very pleasing to Christ. And so I have to ask myself, and you have to do the same, are we really doing this? Are we really purified from the corruption that's in the world? And are we are we zealous of good works whenever we get opportunity in the name of Christ? The great deal that we can be thankful for in this world, all the great movements of a humanitarian kind where people are anxious to help those who are in need. But the Christian does it in the name of Christ for his glory, for himself, just as he did. He went about doing good. And so the believer, he's marked by that same kind of attitude and he does it for him. It's to glorify him. So if Paul says he gave himself, it's to remind us of that great sacrifice that he made. And any sacrifice that we make is very, very meager compared to that. But nevertheless, it's pleasing in his sight. Well, may we be encouraged. We are awaiting that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and savior, Jesus Christ. We ought to have said and say it very simply that we believe roughly a period of seven years will take place between the blessed hope and the glorious appearing. But what we are waiting for is the first movement, waiting for the shout so that we'll go with him, the fulfillment of that glorious hope. May we be encouraged for his name's sake. …

… We read together John 14, first three verses, where the Lord Jesus told his own not to be troubled in heart, they were to believe in God and believe also in him. Because he said, in my father's house there are many mansions, if it were not so I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there ye may be also. And we thought that that wonderful promise is a very engaging thing indeed for all our hearts, I will come again, the promise of the Son of God that has still to be implemented and how wonderful that we're waiting for its fulfillment. Last night we considered in first Corinthians 15 some of the great features that will take place when the Lord comes for his own, particularly the change in our bodies, the dead bodies of the saints who have died since the day of Pentecost up till the present moment when the Lord comes. And then to the change that will take place in the bodies of the believers who are here upon earth, and that was a very wonderful thing to see the power of God operating in the twinkling of an eye to produce this marvelous change. Now I thought tonight we might look at some very very practical features and yet they still are connected with the coming of the Lord. In Romans chapter 13 the apostle says, knowing the time. You remember that the Lord Jesus upbraided those who had no desire to accept him, he says you can discern the signs of the times but you cannot, you discern the signs of the skies but you cannot discern the signs of the times. They should have known, they should have had eyes to see what was happening. First of all that they were under the yoke of the Romans, that was a very powerful sign to them that their unfaithfulness had produced this bondage. And secondly that the Messiah was there before their eyes and they saw what he said and what he did was clear proof that Messiah had come and yet they ignored those very definite signs and just went on their way as if nothing had happened. So Paul says to the believers here knowing the time and that's a very important thing for every one of us to know the time in which we live and we've often been taught and rightly taught that we do not see the fulfillment of prophecy before the church is cut away, the correct fulfillment of prophecy will take place after the church is gone. All the old testament scriptures in relation to Israel and the nations will have their speedy fulfillment after the church at home. But there are signs that we can see and we take account of them and says the apostle knowing the time that now it is high time high time he says to awake out of sleep and I think the apostle is emphasizing the urgency of the Christian period that we are not here forever that there is a time available for the believers to do something for the Lord as guided by the Holy Spirit and that's very very important indeed. It's high time to awake out of sleep he said. I believe it's a great sorrow and grief to the Lord to see the tremendous apathy that exists amongst Christians and perhaps we have all to look into our own hearts and ask ourselves well yes how much am I really awake as to the Lord's interests at the present moment and so the apostle is really rousing the saints to be awakened out of any condition of apathy and indifference and to apply themselves in the power of the spirit to Christian activity in the day of grace. We want to say a little word about this matter of sleep. If we think of it naturally well yes it's a call for the natural body to rest something that's natural and very very necessary but it also indicates inactivity when you're asleep there are no activities that you're involved in it's just like death the body is inactive it's not acting in energy as I say again it's inactive and so I think this is what the apostle is driving at the inactivity of believers in a day that's extremely important the time the time's marvelous time the day of grace the day of the formation of the church the day of the activities of the Father Son and Holy Spirit and nothing can be greater than that. Knowing that says the apostle how are you using your time it's high time to awake out of sleep he says and apply yourself to the things that are really worthwhile. There are some very very sad things when we read the scriptures in connection with sleep you remember that that great man of God Samson it was when he slept that his wife seduced him and took away his power the Nazarite ship was destroyed in him for a while he did regain it but oh how sad it was when he slept. We think of the disciples sleeping at the time of the Lord's sorrow could you not watch with me one hour he said isn't there a tremendous appeal of love behind that there he was crying his heart out to his father and all the impending sorrow of the cross before him and those who really loved him and who loved to be with him there they were could you not watch with me one hour very very sad and then we find in the epistle to the Ephesians a tremendous unfolding of divine truth and the glory of Christ and the greatness of the church and the father's counsel and many many other things and yet the apostle has to say awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead oh how sad that those who have been taught so many wonderful truths can slip into a state of apathy and indifference and carelessness very very sad indeed. There's a portion that often appeals to me in this way in Proverbs 24 it's the last few verses of the chapter and the writer says he went past the garden of the sluggard and the wall was broken down and the thorns and the thistles were overgrowing the garden there was nothing beautiful everything was derelict and very very ugly to behold and he says a little sleep a little folding of the hands there's another very telling proverb too the slot of the slothful man says he clothes himself in rags the poverty and the unlovely appearance of apathy in relation to the things of the lord and so the apostle is speaking in view of the day of redemption and he's encouraging the saints not to be lulled to sleep oh the enemy desires that wasn't it when men slept that the enemy sowed tears in the field when there was a lack of vigilance carelessness lack of interest and that is when the enemy was busy and so dear friends we have to pay attention to this oh how easy it is to give way to nature how easy it is to be a blow into the state of contentment contentment on one hand with the blessings we possess and yet apathy and inactivity in relation to the things of the lord so he says it's high time to awake out of sleep for now is our salvation nearer than when we believe is paul thinking for a moment that he's not sure of his salvation until the day of redemption comes is there a little uncertainty in his mind when he speaks about the salvation is nearer than when we believe and everybody here knows no that's not so paul was absolutely sure about his salvation salvation 100 sure that his sins were gone and gone forever because of the death of our lord jesus christ neither was he occupied with day by day salvation that he experienced because christ was on high at the right hand of god that he had experienced on many many occasions he knew the delivering power of the lord from circumstances and the power of the enemy he was talking about complete and final salvation when the lord jesus christ comes the salvation that has to do with the body that we were speaking about last night when in one moment of divine power the last act of salvation takes place very very interesting if you have mr darby's translation you'll find it in the end of philippians 3 he says we're looking for the lord jesus christ as savior i think you'll find in the authorize it says looking for the lord jesus christ the savior but when he says as savior that emphasizes that it is an act of salvation when he comes to change these bodies and my what a wonderful salvation it will be think of being taken out of this scene where we are tempted and so often succumb where we realize the power of the enemy satan's power and all its wickedness when there are all the allurements that are in this world surrounding us to draw us away from the lord all these things and many more things and all that to go in one moment of divine power the salvation that's here than when we believed and for every generation of christians since the time the apostle paul wrote those words that's perfectly true some here have known the lord jesus for a long long time and so it's perfectly obvious that their salvation is nearer than the day they believe and we believe that we are just on the point of experiencing that salvation oh how near it is there are so many things that we can take account of as we look at the times we'll talk about these in a moment but i believe principally what should be in our minds and this is something of course that we're unable to take account of that is the completion of the church i believe that's the main thing that governs the time when the lord will come when the last saint has been secured and the church is complete god's purpose in the past ages is complete then i believe the lord will come on the other hand there are many many other signs for instance the tremendous apostasy that's taking place in the professing body the increasing and blatant forms of evil where good is called wrong and wrong is called right awful thing to see and also a very very very definite sign the formation of the nation of israel since 1948 its place amongst the nations and also the formation of the european nations where a treaty of rome was signed and there we have this very compact nation or company of nations that might well prefigure the beast of revelation 13 we cannot close our eyes to these things these things are coming events casting their shadows and so we believe we are very very near to and so the collapse of the communist bloc which leaves the european nations the strongest and most powerful economic and political combination i believe again prefiguring the first beast of revelation 13 and so dear friends oh how near the time we are when the day of salvation will come the day of salvation is nearer than when we believe i suppose in some companies they might have shouted hallelujah when we speak about that kind of thing and yet we can be so cold so unmoved and we're dealing with the greatest and most wonderful things that were ever committed to men and women the day of salvation what an event when the lord jesus christ shall come and when we all change but look what paul says the night is far spent days at hand let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light let us walk honestly as in the day not in rioting and drunkenness not in chambering and wantonness not in strife and envy put thee on the lord jesus christ and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof aren't these solemn words we must need them spirit of god would never indicted them if we hadn't needed them that in the face of this marvelous truth that the lord is coming the apostle is to warn us against carelessness in our behavior that there should be a distinct mark pointing out that those who believe in the lord and are waiting for the lord are distinct in their behavior from the world and my all these things we've read that we have to avoid they're all around us and so easy to be to mark us if we allowed them and so says the apostle at the end put on the lord jesus christ be like him that's the kind of features that really tell before the lord comes to be like him to put him on so that we're here for his pleasure and glory so this is a very solemn passage while on the one hand we are reminded that the day of salvation is nearer for us on the other hand we're warned to avoid the things that are displeasing to the lord and a disgrace to the christian testimony and to put on the lord jesus christ and be like him now we move over to ephesians chapter four and verse 30 grieve not the holy spirit of god for my you're sealed unto the day of redemption we believe again the day of redemption is looking forward to the time when we shall be liberated from this scene and taken to be with christ marvelous time that that will be we cannot say it enough again and again that this is a marvelous moment for us all to look forward to and really if we grasp it in humility and let the holy spirit bring it home to our hearts it should indeed thrill us that we're just on the verge of experiencing this wonderful moment ah yes there are those who say today we've heard that over and over again but it's not happening where is the promise of his coming say the scoffers and we say in faith it may be that it hasn't been experienced yet it will be and maybe very soon and says the apostle i want you to be encouraged you've been sealed with the holy spirit of god until the day of redemption now first of all the truth of the indwelling spirit of god isn't that a marvelous truth that every believer consequent upon belief in christ receives the gift of the holy spirit to indwell him and her and to be there until that life is completed or until the lord comes marvelous truth the power for every christian activity and the power enabling us to enjoy every christian privilege sad when we see so little evidence of it and yet there it is it's a truth that the holy scriptures bring before us the indwelling spirit of god and notice that the apostle stresses the holy spirit the characteristic name of the spirit of god co-equal with the father and the son and yet here to maintain the christian testimony until the end the holy spirit before we speak about the seal let us pay attention to what he says grieve not the holy spirit i think i'm right in saying that the grief here is similar to that expressed by the lord expressed by the lord in matthew chapter 26 where he was grieved and distressed a deep feeling produced in him by the approaching cross and by no doubt the enmity of man against him but particularly the approaching cross and so the holy spirit is grieved what is he grieved about i suppose greed because of the lack of response to his ministry concerning the glory of christ you remember in genesis 24 when the servant was seeking a wife for isaac at one point he says hinder me not i have a service to perform for my master for the glory of his son and i believe that that's the great grief of the holy spirit that he's hindered in his positive work in glorifying christ amongst the people of god because their low spiritual state and their moral condition now you know perfectly well we all know it that we do not get the gain of the spirit service in relation to christ if in any way we succumb to this world or if in any way we fail in moral matters the holy spirit service is held up in us that once repentance has taken place moral adjustment in our lives and then i walk with the lord that is proper and pleasing to him oh how delighted the spirit is to bring christ before us and to magnify him to our hearts and so when the apostle says grieve not the holy spirit i believe he's referring to this great service that the spirit is rendering and is held up in relation to it because of our low condition it's possible to lie to the holy spirit any activity of hypocrisy is lying to the holy spirit it was so with ananias and sapphira definitely all right for them to give a portion of their money to the interests of the lord at that time but sheer hypocrisy to give the impression that they had given it all and so they lied to the holy spirit i wonder if we lie to the holy spirit by creating impressions a facade that hides if you like the moral lowness and failure that attaches to our lives oh the holy spirit doesn't like that kind of thing and this work is held up in us when there is any attempt to do this kind of thing paul says that we're not to lie and he's saying there it's not the actual oral lie but the attempt at falsehood that is living a lie by an outward appearance that is false because behind it behind the facade there is corruption and so dear friends what a serious thing to lie to the holy spirit in view of this great day that's approaching the day of redemption we surely would not like to be in that particular condition and the lord jesus to come what a joyous thing it would be to be in a condition of communion with the lord or engaged in any spiritual activity for the lord and he were to come that would be a happy moment for us all and so dear friends this matter of our response to the holy spirit service is a very very real one indeed we're told not to quench the spirit and we're told and of course blaspheming against the spirit which has particular reference to the lord in his manhood was an extremely serious thing not to be forgiven not at that time nor in any other time and so very very serious that in any way we hinder the positive work of the holy spirit now then the matter of sealing i consider this very very happy form of truth indeed we believe that when a person accepts the lord jesus christ the savior they understand clearly and distinctly the greatness of the work of christ they understand that his precious blood has cleansed them from all guilt and shame that when that belief takes place conversion takes place then the spirit seals that you have it in the type with the priests and sons you remember the blood was placed upon their ear and their thumb and the great toe and then the oil was placed upon the blood and i think there was the same procedure in connection with the cleansed leper and so the type tells us that consequent upon the work of the blood the cleansing power of the blood we have the sealing of the holy spirit now there are various thoughts connected with the sealing and i think they're very very precious connected with the day of redemption first of all there is ownership and this can be seen in second timothy too when the apostle says having this seal the lord knoweth them that are his isn't that wonderful that when we're sealed with the holy spirit it's tantamount to the lord saying this person belongs to me and will belong to me forever and there's no power in earth or in hell can take this person away from me mine sealed with the holy spirit until the day of redemption oh i think that's marvelous that the indwelling spirit of god is a reminder to us that we belong to god until the day of redemption and no one can take us from him secondly there is what is authentic and we just need to quote one scripture to prove that and you remember paul when the corinthians were questioning his apostleship he says the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the lord that is that before them if they had the eyes to see it was the authentic expression of apostleship they owed their blessing to him they owed the formation of the assembly of god in corinth to him so when we see a person sealed with the holy spirit when any of us is sealed with the holy spirit then it's the authentic article god doesn't seal unconverted people god may work in on unconverted people he has the right to do that whenever he wills we have the instance of balaam there was a man unconverted no love towards god or god's people and the spirit of god worked through him that's a different thing altogether from being sealed god seals the authentic believers in christ they're real and god says they are mine and then there is security you remember in connection with satan that he's placed in the bottomless pit for a period of a thousand years and he's sealed that's to make sure he doesn't come out for that period of a thousand years and might be a wonderful thing when the the earth is set free from satan's wiles for a thousand years but the emphasis he's secure there he won't cause any trouble but of course when we transfer that idea to us praise god we are secure until the day of redemption it's only the authentic ones that will be caught out of the scene the professors with no life or no love for the lord they'll be left behind but the authentic ones are sealed until the day of redemption and they'll be caught up to be with the lord and so it is with those who are secure kept right until that wonderful moment and you remember in john chapter 10 oh how i love to quote these words they are very dear to my heart i can assure you when the lord speaks about the sheep being held in his hand and held in his father's hand and there we have tremendous security but there in ephesians 4 it's the spirit who seals them and there is the security they're secure for god until the day of redemption now lastly that which is irreversible you remember in the book of esther when the king sealed the decree with his signet ring it was impossible that that could be reversed the law of the medes and the persians made it a law that was binding that could not be broken and praise god when we're sealed with the holy spirit until the day of redemption that's irreversible impossible for it to be reversed and so we're deeply thankful for this wonderful truth the seal seal of the holy spirit that gives us these tremendous blessings and assurance until the day of redemption well then that's the positive side that every christian can take account of and enjoy at the present moment but look let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice be kind one to another tender hearted forgiving one another even as god for christ's sake hath forgiven you that's the other side wouldn't it be sad after all that we've said about the sealing of the holy spirit if these awful features in verse 31 were all that was seen amongst the saints of god bitterness and envy and clamor and slander and misrepresentation and lies that would be a novel condition ah the last verse is what we want to see in view of the day of redemption kind to one another tender-hearted forgiving one another even as god for christ's sake hath forgiven you what a marvelous thing for saints of god to be together in this happy condition until the day of redemption now we move over to the epistle of jude you know that this short epistle written by the covenant of god is dealing very largely with the awful failure of apostasy which means giving up the things of god and accepting something else he wanted to write to them about the common salvation but unfortunately because of the conditions that were prevalent he thought it better to write in this way to encourage them as he does in these verses that we read together he exhorts them to build themselves up and to pray and to keep themselves and to be looking for the mercy of our lord jesus christ and to eternal life i believe without doubt that john 14 is the most precious passage that should govern us in our looking for the coming of the lord it's all about him and it's all about the father's house and it's all about the love and the glory that belongs to that place but here this is a different matter this is looking for the mercy of our lord jesus christ unto eternal life and i believe what the apostle is saying is it will be a mercy when the lord comes and takes us out of the scene where there is so much failure and so much wickedness in the professing body wickedness yes positive evil wickedness in the professing body and that's very very sad indeed that the apostle should write in that way before we speak about that i like to think of verse 24 that he is able to keep us from falling now i've often felt that this isn't the ordinary failure that we might easily succumb to day by day loss of temper or some evil thought or evil word or even evil deed any christian can succumb to that in a moment but here i believe the apostle is speaking about the falling of apostasy he says he'll keep us from that those who are really close to him and building themselves up and praying and looking for the lord these are the people who will be kept from falling into this tremendous evil falling away from the truth very very sad thing indeed and so that's the encouraging side and praise god will be presented before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy but what a mercy to be taken out of the scene before it gets to that awful condition the lord speaks about in revelation three in connection with laodicea when it's so obnoxious that which bears his name in professing christendom and he says he'll spew it out of his mouth obnoxious and we believe that will be the awful condition of that professing company that's left bearing the name of christ after the church is gone that will be dealt with eventually in the harlot church no dear friends what a mercy indeed to be taken from that what are the things that are going on at the present moment well first of all we can think of the ecumenical movement and the broad platform that it is presenting now where christ is placed alongside of others for instance we're told that christ is for the christian and every christian says praise the lord for that but those who say that equally say moses for the jew buddha for the buddhists and all the gods of the hindus for the hindus equally say that which means putting christ alongside them and that's the awful apostasy that we are facing at the present moment in the ecumenical movement we have the new age movement where again christ is introduced mixed up with the occult and every conceivable wickedness yes professing believers are prepared to be connected with that and then of course we find the awful things that are said publicly recently i heard that the bishop of durham was asked point blank do you believe in the virgin birth of christ and he says no no ambiguity there dear friends this is a man who's supposed to be a shepherd of the sheep and this is in the professing body what a mercy then to be taken out of this heartless scene in relation to the person of christ and of course the virgin birth is not the only thing that's denied his glorious physical resurrection from among the dead his deity his miracles what are we left with a man who was kind and produced many wonderful ethics that's all we're left with sad sad thing a mercy to be taken out of that and he says looking for the mercy of our lord jesus christ unto eternal life oh you say i thought that we possess eternal life and praise god we do because john's gospel teaches us clearly and so does his epistle we're in the enjoyment of eternal life now in christ every believer has this eternal life and the enjoyment of it but paul and jude too is presenting it as something that will be realized in the future in its fullness and completion thank god for that this is eternal life that they might know thee the only true god and jesus christ whom thou sent and we believe the knowledge of the father and the son in the power of the spirit the only power that can help us to enjoy those persons is the true engagement of eternal life and at the present moment we are occupied with waiting for that looking for it coming to us in the coming of our lord jesus christ oh what a wonderful day that will be no failure connected with eternal life impossible it's pure it's living it's holy and dear friends we're going on to that in all its fullness and in all its blessedness now just for a few moments in first corinthians chapter 11. you know this is one of the things that paul received directly from the lord jesus christ he received this by the word of the lord it might have been easy for the jews to say well now this was delivered by the lord specially for us when he was here upon earth he said this to his disciples in the upper room and we believe this is a distinct jewish bearing but when the apostle the apostle to the gentiles received it from the glory and and hands that on to i believe mainly gentile believers in the city of corinth he shows that the truth of the lord's supper is for all believers and until he comes for the simple instructions what a test it is what a taste it is the simple instructions of the supper to recall him to our hearts and to our minds man has embellished the supper and we've not been a missing that either in adding this that and the next thing to the simple instructions of the supper and contending very very strongly that this is absolutely necessary for the supper and then when you come to put a scripture against the things that we contend for that's another story the supper is an appeal for the affections of the believer for the person of christ and we have the slightest doubt that when the supper is performed as the lord laid down and that is fulfilled in affection to the lord there will be no doubt that our affections will be led to the father in the enjoyment of his greatness but when we break bread and we partake of the cup and we partake of the bread the supper as presented by the lord is completed what happens afterwards is in the guidance and control of the holy spirit and so we believe that the great thing to draw ourselves together is the attraction that's in christ personally i remember reading about the christians in poland when they were being persecuted severely by the roman catholics perhaps it may be good to say that at one time poland was nearly 100 percent for the reformed truth and that of course was very very galling to the pope and those who followed him and so an army was gathered together and poland was devastated rich country fertile industrious and it was in devastated because the majority of them believed in the truth and then from that moment up to the present moment poland has been predominantly roman catholic but in the time of the great persecutions christians couldn't meet together and remember the supper and so they met together out in the fields and they tell us they just broke bread and they partook of the cup no singing no ministry they did what the lord told them to do and they separated with great joy would that be a test to us if we only came together just to break bread partake of the cup and then separate would we do it with great joy it would be a great test but the lord says through paul until he come when he comes for the church there will be no more opportunity to remember him i believe that it might have a distinct reference to his appearing because you remember when he said i will not drink it you with you until i drink it in the kingdom that's not the exact quotation but it's the gist of it and so the lord is talking about his absence from this scene but he will be coming back and have the joy of being with his own and that will be when he appears and publicly takes up his position in this world and establishes the kingdom but without doubt when he comes for his own then the supper will cease there'll be no need to remember him in that way because we'll see him face to face and be like him isn't it a wonderful privilege that we have until he comes a tremendous privilege very very sad if we don't avail ourselves of that opportunity when we have it now and it would be sad if we went to glory and had to confess to the lord no we didn't remember thee when uh when we were here when we were there on earth we had the opportunity but we didn't avail ourselves of it that would be sad indeed oh how he loves us and proved his love by giving himself for us and so we are very very thankful that we do remember him until he comes i'm sure that we'll gladly dispense with the supper in order to be with him and see him as he is and enjoy his presence forever and faith will give place to actuality marvelous to see the one who loved us and gave himself for us may we be encouraged for his namesake …

… I want to continue on this wonderful theme that has engaged us for the last two evenings, the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was a wonderful day in the history of Thessalonica when Paul and his companions went there and preached the Gospel. The power of God unto salvation, Paul says elsewhere, this is to the Romans, and that was experienced in a very, very real way amongst those Thessalonians. They were idolaters. They were accustomed to every form of licentiousness. It was the order of the day. And then, through the Gospel, their eyes were turned towards God, the living God, turned away from idols, turned to the Lord Jesus Christ, and they got converted. They were saved. They received the gift of the Holy Spirit. Paul had taught them about a coming kingdom, and the Lord Jesus Christ would be the universal king, and all power would be put under him. I think it's obvious from reading Acts chapter 17 that this was so. And so Paul, in this epistle, writes to them. They were very, very young believers as far as age was concerned, possibly just a few months. But because they had trusted the Lord Jesus Christ, they were faced with persecution, very real persecution. And Paul, away from them, was very, very much concerned about these young believers. And so he wrote to them to encourage them. And I find it quite remarkable that this letter and the letter that follows were written with a very, very short time to believers that had been saved for a very short time. And we might have said, oh, well, that's not the kind of ministry to give to new converts. We want something simple. My, there's nothing simple about the first epistle to the Thessalonians. There are plenty of wonderful truths in it, deep truths, truths that are soul-establishing. And that was the object of the apostle to encourage these young believers. And so the coming of the Lord was something that he presented in a very real and thorough way. And you know, as you read through the epistle, he mentions this again and again. And what was more encouraging for them than to be told the Lord is coming? And that, of course, to ne'er their faint endeavor, to use the words of the hymn, to encourage them to keep going and not to give up because the Lord was coming and it would be a great day for them to be taken out of the scene. Now, what was true to Thessalonians has been true down through the generations of the church's history right up until the pleasant moment. And whatever difficulties involved in the Christian testimony, the coming of the Lord is something that's held out brightly for the believer for their encouragement to continue the Lord is coming. Paul commends them for all the things that they were doing, young believers and energetic in spreading the good news that there was salvation available in Christ. And at the end of the chapter that we've read together, he gives a great deal of truth in a very, very short compass indeed. They turned to God from idols, and that was a great step forward in their history. Idolatry was rampant in the ancient world. We often say this, that from the cradle to the grave, idolatry marked those people. And in between, idolatry for every conceivable feature of life, for business, for marriage, for war, everything was governed by idolatry. The intellectuals, they sneered at it, of course, they saw through it all, but the common people were very, very much governed by idolatry. And while the emperors and those who were under them gave credence to it, it was part of life, but idolatry was very much the part of ancient life. And along with that, the most evil forms of living, awful living, licentious of every conceivable kind. Now these people, they got converted, they turned to God from idols. What a tremendous moment that was. And Paul says here, to serve the living and the true God, turned away from all the gods of men and all their ideas to serve a God who could do things. And the Bible tells us about gods that cannot see and cannot hear, cannot speak, cannot smell, cannot do anything. And God says to them, I've borne you in eagles' wings, I've carried you. He says, you have to carry your gods about with you. And he says, I've carried you, carried you through the wilderness, provided for you and sustained you. What a difference between the idols of men and God, the living God. And what a moment it was in their history when they turned to him. We've often pointed out that in Hebrews chapter 9, when they're serving the living God, you'll notice that the word true is dropped there because the Jew had been accustomed to know the living God. It wasn't stops and idols that they followed. They did follow the living God, but unfortunately they had slipped down and the living God had become, well, named to them, not a reality. But thank God they were cleansed from evil works, dead works to serve the living God. I read somewhere that someone asked, what are dead works? And the reply was the works of dead persons. And that's a very, very simple answer, very precise. And so we find that these Thessalonians, they turn to the living and true God, the God who was alive, who was powerful, and who could do what he wanted to do. And it says to serve him. Oh, how wonderful that was. Instead of being devotees of these idols, they turned to the living God and sought to serve him and to wait for his son from heaven. Even Jesus, our deliverer, and Paul puts it, as far as I should say, Mr. Darby puts it in his translation in the future tense, our deliverer from the coming wrath. Good scripture to hold on to when people speak about church going through the tribulation. Our deliverer from the coming wrath. If you want to know what the day of wrath is, read the 13th chapter of Isaiah and see what God says about the day of wrath that will sweep across the earth. And God says, we've been delivered from that through our Lord Jesus Christ, or will be delivered from it. And we'll see that in a moment when we come to chapter four. But just one word more about this awful scourge, idolatry. When the Romans conquered a nation, they weren't concerned about the nation's gods. It was quite an easy thing for them to incorporate another God into their circle of gods. That didn't matter. As long as they acknowledged the supremacy of Rome, then there was no problem about the nation hanging on to its gods. Difficulty came when the Christians said, there is only one God. And when they refused to worship the other gods. And when they said, all your gods are false gods and we will not worship them. We will worship our God, the God who has revealed himself through Christ. And when they spoke about an exclusive God and all the other gods were idols, then the persecution came. And of course, you know, the terrible persecutions that took place when Christians laid down their lives rather than deny the truth. And if they weren't slain, their property was taken from them, often tortured, often dealt hardly with, but they would not bow. Simple thing just to offer some incense to the emperor who was largely deified. No, not for one moment. Mine, it has to be said that not all were faithful. There were those who succumbed to the threat of torture and to the threat of loss of life. But in the main, there were many who gave their lives and who gave their property and who gave every prospect of advancement in this world because they wanted to be true to the living God. So when you read in the Bible about the Christian's turning from idols to serve the living God, don't think it was easy. Perhaps it's not easy for us to turn away from the idols of materialism today. A simpler thing, no persecution, no thought of losing our lives, but so bound up with materialism that we find it extremely difficult to give it up. And I believe only the impelling power of Christ and affection for him will help us to get rid of those idols. And there are idols. Paul speaks about covetousness, which is idolatry. He speaks about self-will, or rather Samuel did, self-will, which is idolatry. And these are the things that we have to face in our modern affluent age, self-will, covetousness. And we need the help and power of the Holy Spirit as we wait for God's son from heaven. And we are waiting for him. Thank God we are waiting for him. We've been taught so long by so many that the Lord Jesus Christ is coming. We can never possibly omit this from the truths that we know. It's built into our souls. We hear it again and again. We sing about it. We read about it. We hear about it, that the Lord is coming. But whether it's a vital, living truth governing our lives, that may be another matter. And so these Thessalonians, how earnestly they proved that they had imbibed the truth and were governed by the truth, and while they had turned away from that which was wrong, they served the living and the true God, and they waited for the son from heaven. And we say, our deliverer from the coming wrath. Later on in the epistle, Paul says that God has not appointed us to wrath, but to salvation. Marvelous statement. No possibility of the church of God going through the tribulation. And I often say, if we really knew what the tribulation will be, we would be looking in the Bible for verses to prove that we're not going through the tribulation. It would be such a horrific time for those who are upon earth, when the judgments of God sweep across the earth on a land that has given up God, has given up Christ in such an awful way, throw back in God's face every blessing that he has given to them. Terrible thing. And that's what we're experiencing day by day, as we see around us. Thank God for us, those of us who desire to lead simple lives and please the Lord and in our little measure, whatever it might be, whether it's Sunday school work or tract distribution or preaching the gospel or ministering the truth or visiting the sick, anything connected with the Lord's interests, we're waiting for his son from heaven. We're serving the living and the true God. Keep at it. Don't give it up. Do what you can until the Lord comes. It's well worthwhile. And so we turn over to chapter four. I think you will agree with me that the whole chapter is seldom read. But usually when we read this chapter, we begin at verse 13. I feel very much impressed to read the whole chapter. I'll tell you why. Because in the first part of it, the matter of holiness is stressed, sanctification set apart to God, holiness of life, walking in a way that pleases God. And then the next part deals with love, love amongst the saints, brotherly love, love. We'll see the difference in a few moments. I believe, dear brethren, if those two features were with us, what an excellent condition for the saints to be in when the Lord comes. Living in holiness of life, love circulating amongst the saints, my, what a wonderful condition to be in for the Lord to come for his people. And so we ought to look at this, and I believe it's extremely important that Paul brings in the truth of the Lord's coming in a setting like this. So he says, we've exhorted you by the Lord Jesus or in the Lord Jesus that as you received of us how you ought to walk and please God, so you would abound more and more. Paul seems to give them credit that they were walking and pleasing God, but desired that they would abound still more and more, not be content with having reached a certain status, if you like, of walking and pleasing God, but to abound in it. Seems gives one the impression of tremendous energy, power in doing this. And so what a marvelous thing if the saints are walking and pleasing God. We cannot do better than go back to the time of Enoch because he is a type of the church being caught out of this world to be with Christ. You remember that Enoch walked in a very, very evil day indeed. What a tremendous evil was in the world at that time. Men were doing just as they pleased. They had moved away from God. God had repented that he had made man. But in the midst of all this corruption, there was one man that pleased God. He walked with God. And Hebrews tells us he had the testimony that he pleased God. And it was a joy for God to look down on that one man. He walked with God 300 years. What a tremendous life that was. And it's a little picture of the church in the midst of corruption, walking in a way that pleases God. You know that when we come to the next type, Noah, Noah is a type of the remnant passing through the time of judgment and trial and tribulation. And Noah and the few in the ark is that picture. And they are born above all the storms and all the trials, and then they are re-peopling the earth. Again, a type of the remnant that will take place in the future in connection with the nation of Israel. But one feels that Enoch is a beautiful type here in this chapter that we've read or connected with this chapter to show how we can walk and please God. Whenever we get walk mentioned in the Bible, it's our manner of life. And here is to walk and please God. You remember what Paul says, that if he pleased men, he wouldn't be the Lord's servant. What a marvelous thing to please God. What can be greater in that sense in the realm of service than pleasing God? Not being men pleasers, so easy to please men. And a great deal of that goes on today in the Christian circle, unfortunately. People having itching ears and appointing speakers that please them don't want to hear the truth. We're thankful for every brother and sister who is not a man pleaser and can speak the truth when every opportunity occurs. And of course, we're greatly indebted for many in the past who are far from being men pleasers. They sought to please God and they've left us a heritage of truth and instruction that we might be helped in walking and pleasing God. I like to think of the Apostle Paul in this respect. He said he had a conscience, an exercise conscience to avoid offending God and man. There's a real man who pleased God. He was exercised. That meant that he had a conscience that was energetic, that was active. It was not sleeping. It was not dulled. It wasn't seared. It was a conscience that was tender and all his life, wherever he went, whatever he did, this was the great fact of his life. He pleased God and he sought to be upright before men. Pleasing God and doing right before men. That's the kind of life that pleases God. Do I please God? Do you please God? Each one has to answer that and that's what we have to do as we wait for the Lord coming. I think you will agree with me. What an honor is conferred upon us when we think that we can live our lives in this world and please the great and holy and eternal living God. And he's given us his word to show us how to please him. And many, many scriptures tell us how we can walk well pleasing to God, doing the things that please him, saying the things that please him. Yes, and thinking the things that please him. Our whole lives organized in this way, regimented, if you like, by the word of God and the power of the spirit to please God. My, what a testimony Enoch had. He had this testimony that he pleased God. Well, Paul goes on and he says, this is the will of God, even your sanctification. But here is a most wonderful truth that we are set apart. If we do not live in consistency with being set apart, it does not invalidate or put away the fact that we are sanctified. It doesn't destroy the truth that we are sanctified. We are sanctified and that's established once and for all, once and for all. But here, it's a question of being in consistency with being set aside or set apart rather. It's practical sanctification, living in consistency with the position that God has given to us. And of course, the underlying feature of that is holiness. We've already spoken about the licentiousness that marked idolatry. And this is what Paul's getting at. You people who have believed in God, believed in Christ, you must not allow yourselves to live in the same way as you lived before. You remember that passage in 1 Corinthians chapter six, when he said, such were some of you. That's the wonder of salvation. And he gives a long list of evil living, but he says, that's how you used to be. But now you're washed, you're cleansed, you're sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God. Wonderful transformation. And Paul is warning them here, we must not fall into this awful morass of evil that marks those who do not know God and who have no hope and don't know Christ in this world. And it would be a sad thing if the only difference that the world sees in us is that we go to a meeting place and the world goes to its places of amusement. It would be a sad, sad thing if that's the only difference. There's ought to be a difference in our conversation, there ought to be a difference in all our ways, whether employees, employers, or in the home or at the school, wherever we are, a standard of Christian behavior that's pleasing to God and indicates that yes, we are like those who wait for the Lord. And so Paul is stressing here, holiness of life. Then he says, God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. In the book of Leviticus, we find that God addresses his people, Israel, and he gives them a very high standard. He says, be ye holy for I am holy. And on four different contexts, we find the stress that they are to be holy. The priests were to be holy. The ordinary people were to be holy. God was holy and so his people were to be holy. And now God is saying to the Thessalonians, you're called unto holiness. And one cannot do better than give Mr. Darby's definition of holiness. And he says, an abhorrence of evil, an abhorrence of evil. And I believe if we were more sensitive as to how things are evil in the sight of God, it would go a long way in helping us to keep clear of it and to please him. God has called us to holiness and the Christians ought to respond. Now he says, he therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his Holy Spirit. I could imagine these Thessalonian believers saying, Paul, you're giving us a very high standard. You're telling us what to do. We feel very, very weak. How can we accomplish this? Paul says, God has given to you his Holy Spirit. There is the power. And we feel very, very helpless at times. I know I do. I don't know how you feel, but the power of evil is so great. Flesh is so persistent and sin and Satan are all around us. How easy it is to feel weak in the face of it. And then thank God. We remember we're indwelt by the Holy Spirit and he's the power to enable us to do these things to enable us to please God. We're not left to our own resources. In our weakness, we cast ourselves upon the power of the Holy Spirit and cry out to God to help us through that. And thank God it works. And so there is power for the Christian to go through this evil world and be triumphant in it. And yes, we do fail. Thank God for restoring grace and he enables us to go on and to avoid the things that caused us to fail. And so here, Paul says, we've got the Holy Spirit. Oh, we can remember this. We ought to remember it day by day that in this context, when we're waiting for the Lord, keep clear of evil, rely upon the power of the Holy Spirit and keep looking up the Lord's coming. And now he goes on to speak about love, but it's touching brotherly love. You need not that I write unto you for you yourselves are taught of God to love one another. I think I'm right in saying that when he mentions brotherly love, he uses a word that means that are attractive features in the person that draw my love to that person. I'm attracted by the fine features that are there. But when he uses this other word, it means the settled disposition in loving. And suppose we see awkward features in anyone. We're still obligated to love. It's the word that's most often used in relation to the love of God. Not that the love and the first verse is not used in connection with divine persons. It is, but the second word love is a more powerful one. They settled disposition of love. Brotherly love, of course, doesn't go any higher than love between each other. That's what it means. Brotherly love, the love that we show towards each other mentioned in a few places twice. I think in Peter's first epistle and once in his second epistle, you remember he says that add to brotherly love, love, I'd almost think, well, brotherly love is quite sufficient. Well, we're not always attractive. Sometimes we might be awkward, we might do things or say things that cause people not to think highly of us, but they're still obligated to love me even though I'm awkward because To brotherly love, they have to add love. My, what a powerful condition to be in just when the Lord comes. Christians loving each other, brotherly love and activity in our companies. And if there are any failures, there's great and marvelous love that rises above difficulties and trials and opposition, love operating amongst the believers, you might almost say what an ideal condition for the Lord to come to take his people out of the scene. Brotherly love, love. And you say, oh, yes, but I know somebody who doesn't love me. That's not the point. That's never the point in divine things. The point is I'm to love. Because nobody loves me, I'm obligated to love. And you're obligated to love. And oh, how sad it is when sometimes you're concerned about no one loving us, no one being kind to us, no one paying any attention to us. That's a very sad thing if it exists, but it should never stop us from loving. The obligation is always upon me to love. And in that measure, something is being secured if I do that. Brotherly love, love. And so Paul goes on, and indeed you do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia. But we beseech you, brethren, that you increase more and more. He gives them great credit that they were doing this, but he says, keep at it and add a little more. And that's a good word in the Christian life. Keep at it. Don't give it up. Don't be set aside by any disappointment or failure in yourself or in others. Keep at it. Abound still more and more. Study to be quiet. Do your own business. You can almost hear Paul saying, mind your own business. Don't be a nosy parker, always getting into other people's businesses. Mind your own business, and we've all got plenty in our hands when we do that. And that means, I think, keeping close links with the Lord and making sure that we're walking with the Lord and doing the things that please him. And to work with your own hands, don't be lazy, as we commanded you, that we may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that you may have lack of nothing. We see a correct form of life. Dishonesty is a very, very dishonorous thing in the sight of God, and ought not to mark any Christian lie telling, dishonesty, unrighteousness are features that certainly do not please God and certainly do not adorn the doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so, Paul is talking about simple matters that everybody can understand, but these are the features that should mark us as we wait for the Lord from heaven. Now, it would appear that when Paul spoke about the coming kingdom, there were those who were encouraged by this, and they were looking forward to it with anticipation. But after he had left them, some of them had died. I don't know if they were killed in the persecution, but some of them had gone to be with the Lord. And they were very, very much concerned. How will they have part in the kingdom? If they have died and the king is coming to set up his kingdom, what part will they have? Oh, says Paul, I'll make that clear to you. And so he says, I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. That's a very wonderful thing that the Christian who falls asleep does so in the hope of being with Christ. And as we saw in 1 Corinthians 15, the hope of the resurrection of the body and to be with Christ forever in a glorified condition. And he says, if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him. Now we have to notice this. We believe that Jesus died and rose again. Paul's not talking here about salvation. He's not believing in Jesus that he died and rose again for salvation. Paul says the fact that Jesus died and rose again is the guarantee that those who die and are put in the grave, they will rise again. And so he is emphasizing that as he goes on to prove, he says, they will be brought with God, with the Lord Jesus. God will bring them when the Lord Jesus comes to set up his kingdom. Paul's not talking about the rapture here in this first few verses. He's talking about the coming kingdom when the Lord Jesus Christ will come with his saints and God will see to it that all those who have died in Christ will come with God. How is that possible, they say? Why they've died, they're in the grave. How is it possible? Well Paul says, I've had a special revelation from the Lord, something I received directly from the Lord, something that had never been made known before. And he says, I'll tell you about it. He says, for this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not precede those that are fallen asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Now you know that we use the term rapture, and it's connected with the expression caught up. That's where we get it, it's a Latin word I understand, which means caught up, and this is why we term it the rapture. Caught up to meet the Lord in the air. Now says Paul, this is how these persons who have died and been placed in the grave will come out with the Lord Jesus Christ when he comes in glory. Because when he comes for his saints to take them home to be with Christ, they'll all go with him, and then they'll come out with him. They've got to be caught up first, caught up to be with him, the church left upon earth, and they'll be caught up to be with him, and then they'll come out with him when he comes out publicly in display. I hope that's plain enough, in fact I'm sure you've heard it so often that it is plain. A lot has been said about these three things, the shout, the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God, and I'm just going to give the simple explanation that always appeals to me. I obtained it as many know here from Mr. Darby, when he says it's a reference to the Roman camp, and the shout is to tell them to break up the camp, they're getting ready to move. Break up the camp, and then the archangel's voice is, get all your equipment packed ready, and then the trump of God, march. They're moving from one location to another, and Paul uses this figure to show that the saints are ready to go, ready to march. Well, it'll be a wonderful moment when that takes place. You think of all the believers all over the world, different languages, different environments, but they'll all understand that shout. There'll be no difficulty. Every nation, they'll understand the shout, or should I say every believer belonging to different nations will understand the shout. You remember what the Lord Jesus says, the voice of the son of God, and he's able to make himself known, and he will, and when that shout takes place, there will be a mighty movement indeed. It will be private. There might be consternation in this world, as I suppose there will be when millions of people leave this scene. All sorts of difficulties and problems, but oh dear friends, we don't want to speculate, but there certainly will be consternation when so many people have gone. How sad for many children of Christian parents who have sat in a room like this and have listened to ministry concerning the coming of the Lord, and they've missed the opportunity to get ready, and suddenly the news comes, their parents are gone, their friends are gone, all those believers, and the dread news comes into their soul that what they were told about so often has happened, the Lord has come. Oh, how awful to think that they're left for judgment. Paul is talking about the fact itself as it applies to believers, and those believers whose bodies were placed in the grave shall be raised, and they'll go first. The dead in Christ shall rise first, and then that mighty living throng shall ascend to be with Christ. Those on earth will be changed, although that's not mentioned here, it just says the living will be caught up. If it's possible to give a sequence in something that happens in the twinkling of an eye, we would say that 1 Corinthians 15 emphasizes the change, and then 1 Thessalonians 4 emphasizes the believers being caught up into the air, and then John 14 tells us we're taken into the Father's house. Now, we believe that's how it will operate, but of course it all happens in the twinkling of an eye. It's not a progression that takes a long spell of time, no, the twinkling of an eye. Oh, how marvelous this is. Dear friends, I believe we're just on the verge of it. Thank God for us all here that we're waiting, we're ready. Whatever failure attaches to us, we're not talking about partial rapture, that some who are faithful will go, and the others will need to be faithful through the tribulation in order to get their place in the kingdom, we don't believe that. Every person will be caught up to meet Christ in the air who believes in his work, who believes in him, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Those are the blessings that we need to be caught up, not any faithfulness on our part. That will apply to the kingdom when rewards are given, and so that's an encouragement to be faithful. So, how wonderful that Paul was given this distinct revelation that has no place whatsoever in Old Testament scriptures, indeed, not even referred to, I believe, obliquely in the Gospels except perhaps in John 14, and the reference in John 5, the voice of the Son of God in raising the dead, but apart from that, we believe that this is something that was distinctly given to Paul, the truth of the rapture of the saints. And those of you who have many books of the Brethren on your bookshelves, look through them, just go down through the articles and see how often the hope of the church is mentioned. A distinctive ministry that was given to them, and not only was it given to them, but these dear early Brethren who have left with such an example, they practiced what they preached. The truth was operative in their lives, and they really were waiting for the coming of the Lord. Oh, may our hearts be revived to be more like our Lord while we wait for him. I read these few statements at the beginning of chapter five, times and seasons, and times and seasons don't belong to the church. Times and seasons belong to earth. I think I'm right in saying that three, possibly four times in scripture, we get times and seasons mentioned in Ecclesiastes chapter three, a time and purpose for every season. Then in Daniel chapter two, in that wonderful ascription of praise that Daniel gave to God when God revealed to him the dream. …

… From Tuesday this week up till last night, for the sake of those who haven't been here, we've been occupied with the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And to finish the series, I thought we couldn't do better than to look at this passage where three times the Lord Jesus promises, I come quickly. And we're very, very thankful for the response, even so come Lord Jesus. And surely that is the desire of the Holy Spirit to create in all our hearts a response to the Lord, not only to know that the Lord is coming, and I believe every one of us here has that knowledge, but also to respond to it, that there might be a real yearning in each of us to see the Lord Jesus, to be here when he comes. And that indeed will be a marvelous blessing. When the speaker says to John, these sayings are faithful and true, I believe particularly he's referring to the book of Revelation, the unfolding of prophecy, the unfolding of events affecting the church and Israel and the nations, and also through it all, the greatness and glory of our Lord Jesus. And indeed, if we read prophecy only to think about events and how things would shape in the future, then we would miss the greatest, because all through the prophetic scriptures, what is presented is the greatness of God and the greatness of Christ and the greatness of the Holy Spirit. That is the operations of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit in all things pertaining to the well-being of the church and nations and Israel. And so we are profoundly thankful that this book, the book of the Revelation, just does this, presents continually the greatness of the person of Christ. And that's what I want to concentrate on tonight. But first of all, let us think very, very briefly of this book, the book of the Revelation. It opens with the Lord Jesus presented as a judge in the midst of the churches. And so the scene is said at the very outset that this is a book of judgment, a book whereby the church is judged and Israel will be judged and the nations will be judged, and eventually the whole universe will be brought under the control of our Lord Jesus Christ. Even the passage that we read so often at the breaking of bread, the fifth of Revelation, is strictly speaking a scene preparatory to judgment. The only one who is competent to open the seals, the seals that bring judgment sweeping across the earth, is the Lamb. The Lamb who is the one who is morally and rightly capable of dealing with these matters. He's the only one who has the right to open the seals. Nevertheless, of course, it is a marvelous passage to indicate the worship to the one who sits upon the throne that is God and to the Lamb who shares that place with him. And so as we go through the book, we find in chapters two, three, and four, rather two and three, the unsparing eye of the Lord looking at what is right and approving of it, and also pointing out what is wrong and condemning it. And then the scene changes. We get a view of heaven and the greatness of the throne and the one who sits upon it and all things created for his pleasure. Chapter five, we've already mentioned, and following upon that we write up to chapter 19. We get the reference to things that happen upon earth, awful things. Along with that, good things. That is the remnant that testifies for God in that time. And along with that, those evil personages that arise, the beast and the false prophet and the great dragon, the power of Satan energizing them in opposition against all that belongs to God. What a solemn sight it is. Thank God we have the knowledge of these things in this wonderful book. Chapter nine shows the appearing that we've already spoken about when the Lord Jesus Christ comes in great power, power and glory to deal with those elements that are against God and against Israel, and how thankful we are that we find the world to come mentioned and also the eternal state all described for us in this wonderful book. Don't be put off by not understanding the symbols, the signs. I often read it and have to confess, well, I don't understand, but nevertheless, there's tremendous glory and the magnitude of the dealings of God in relation to the universe. They're well worth reading. And so here, uh, the, the apostle is told these sayings absolutely reliable. Did you say he said unto me, these sayings are faithful and true. There's a blessing for those who read the book of revelation, a blessing for those who read and who keep. And so there's encouragement for us to study this book, to read it and to make it our own and to see in it the glory of Christ. And it's divine. It's the Lord God who sends these great things to his servant and notice the word here for sevens is one man. And so those who are characteristically obedient are the ones who learn the truth of God. And he says, things which must shortly be done, not far away, not far away, 2000 years ago, nearly when these things were written. And that means they are 2000 years nearer for completion. So dear friends, we have to face this, that there are so many things we've said this again and again and again, that we're just on the threshold of seeing these things brought into actuality. And that should create a thrill in all our hearts. That first of all, we'll see the coming of the Lord Jesus, and then we'll be with him to share in the administration of the kingdom. We'll be right beside him and to see his glory and his greatness. Then it says, behold, I come quickly behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. And so just at this juncture, this first mention of behold, I come quickly. There is an appeal to you and to me to be faithful and keeping these things that God has written for us, especially for the last days, especially in relation to the son of God. Behold, I come quickly. Be faithful. Hold on to these things. Don't lose them. Work them out in practice. See that they are governing principles in your lives, in my life, as well as yours. Behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. For your interest, I suppose many know it. If you don't know it, well, it's well worth looking up. There are seven references in the book of Revelation to blessed. This is one of them. Seven blessings in the book of Revelation. And we believe that this word could be equally translated happy. Read it then. Behold, I come quickly. Happy is he that keepeth the sayings of this book. My, what a search there is for happiness today. Every conceivable form of entertainment is provided for the creature. Every conceivable kind. If you have the money to pay for them, there are plenty available. If you haven't so much money, there are still things well within your reach. Plenty of entertainment and all calculated to make you happy. And we raise a very, very big question mark against them and ask, do they really provide true happiness? Here is the inspired word of God. And there cannot be any doubt that this is absolutely true in all its parts. Blessed, happy is he who keeps the sayings of this book. And so here is a promise held out for each of us to look at this book, to understand it, to keep it in our hearts, make us superior to all that's going on in this world, and also to keep clear of all the things that are in this world and to find our joy and satisfaction centered in our Lord Jesus Christ. Behold, I come quickly. We were very impressed by the four words of the Lord Jesus in John 14, the first evening we were together. I will come again. Simple words. We can all understand them. Murray McChain spoke about John's simple page. And anyone who can understand these four little words, I will come again. What a comfort they have been for the saints of God down through the ages. And now at the end of the book, very last chapter of the book, the very last chapter in the Bible, I am coming quickly. Oh, dear brethren, suppose we take nothing else away from these meetings. May these words be enshrined in all our hearts. I will come again. Behold, I come quickly. Now, John, he fell at the feet of the angel to worship and he was told, worship God. I honestly believe that if we understood the scope of prophecy and all that our great and wonderful living God will do, his dealings with the nations, his dealings with Israel, the place that the church will have in the administration of the kingdom, the great thoughts of God in relation to the church, its glory with Christ, these things would produce worship and understanding of how great God is. These are his plans, his thoughts for the whole universe and principally for this great company, the church that will have its place beside Christ. And John, he wanted to worship, but unfortunately he worshipped the wrong person. And so he was told, worship God. And that's a great thing. We've been talking about the certainty of the divine revelation, talking about the promise that the Lord gives, behold, I come quickly. We've spoken about happiness and the true sense, now a response. And that's always true. God is always looking for that from your heart and mind, that if he has blessed us in such a wonderful way and he has, praise God, then he looks for a response from each of our hearts. What can be better just to bow our heads and say, thanks and worship. We've sometimes heard that you give God thanks for what you receive and you praise God for what he's done. And we worship God for who he is. And that's very, very nice. Unfortunately, sometimes the word of God knocks our little systems out. And I read in the word of God, it says, and they worshiped and said, thanks. So it seems to me that thanksgiving is a very, very form, a very good form of worship, real thanksgiving. Indeed, the Lord Jesus at the supper, you remember he gave thanks, gave thanks to his God. And so dear friends, great thing to worship God, the heart's appreciation of who he is and what he's doing and our participation in the things that he is doing through infinite grace and mercy. So he goes on to say in verse 10, seal, not the sayings of the prophecy of this book for the time is at hand. If you read in the 12 book, the 12th chapter of the book of Daniel, you'll find that Daniel is instructed to seal up the prophecy. That is because it was a long, long time off before these things were going to be in actuality. But here the prophet is told not to seal the book because the things were at hand. Now, as we've already said, the, uh, it's nearly 2000 years since these things were written. So the unsealed book is about to be unfolded and all the power and all the glory that's connected with it. That is the operations of the son of God, the son of man, the son of David and his dealings in whatever way it is necessary. And so we're very, very thankful that we're just on the threshold of the unfolding of these things. Then it says here, it is unjust and so on. Now it would appear on the face of it that, uh, what is being said is if you're a, an unbeliever, if you're filthy, we'll just remain in that state. And those who are good, well, just remain in that state. Well, I don't think that's exactly the bearing of it. I believe it means that when the Lord comes, these conditions will be fixed. But if there are persons who are in opposition to God, persons who have no time for Christ, then that condition will be fixed after the Lord comes. There's no possibility of change. And of course it won't be very long before they'll come under judgment as we find in a second Thessalonians, when he comes in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those who know not God and those who will be not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Awful time for those who have refused the overtures of grace and mercy and decided to go on their own way in their evil and in their opposition to God. Then he says, and behold, I come quickly and my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be. We know that the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for the church is absolute blessing. There's no idea, as we said on a previous evening, that our faithfulness will depend, will determine our place in the coming of the Lord. I know we'll all be caught up to meet Christ because of what he did for us when he died for us on the cross and the way he has kept us in those intervening years. Praise God for that. It's all about him, what he has done. But here he speaks about reward. And we believe that particularly refers to the time of the appearing when the saints will come out with him in the kingdom and then they'll be given positions of reward and blessing. And that will be a very wonderful time indeed. And prior to that, of course, we have the judgment seat of Christ when then all our lives will come under scrutiny and things that have been off the flesh and of sin and of the world will be burned up. Thank God for that. But what is of value in our lives? God will give us praise. Think on that. We're accustomed to think of ourselves praising God for what he does. But the Bible says, and then shall every man have praise from God. You think of the great eternal living God praising us. And yet that is true for everything that we do that's worthwhile for God and for Christ will get its meal of praise. How wonderful. And that will be unerring. And you remember Paul, he said that the righteous judge in his proper assessment of our lives will give rewards. He was absolutely sure that he would have a crown of righteousness, but all those who were faithful like himself would be blessed in a similar fashion. That would be from the righteous judge. These are the rewards. And we find in the chapters two and three, the rewards held out for the overcomers. Some of them and did all of them. So encouraging and so recompensing for any difficulties involved in the Christian pathway and an overcoming. Yes, he says, my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be. Behold, I come quickly. Then we find some remarkable statements in connection with the Lord Jesus. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, first and the last. Now, I cannot do better than reiterate what I learned from our dear brother, George Davison, that as the Alpha and the Omega, he is the embodiment of all that God has said. That as the beginning and the end, he is the embodiment of all that God is doing. And as the first and the last, he is the embodiment of all that God is in his nature and characteristics. I hope I'm quoting it correctly. But I think that's a tremendous unfolding of the glory of Christ. You know that Alpha and Omega, they represent the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. And of course, it indicates what God is saying, the word, the one who reveals God, the one who reveals all that's in God's mind. And all that God is saying to us comes through Christ, and particularly in relation to the Christian era. Everything that's worthwhile has been revealed through him. He is the great revealer of God, and by his sayings, by his ministry, not only here upon earth, but from glory, is telling us what God has in mind for us. Oh, how tremendous that is, the Alpha and the Omega, the embodiment of all that God is saying. Just think it over. I'm not going to say any more about it, but I'm sure you can think about it in that respect, that everything that is worthwhile that has come to us from God has come to us through our Lord Jesus Christ. That's a tremendous thing. The Lord Jesus in his speaking, making known the mind of God. And then the beginning and the ending. We often use an expression in relation to ourselves, the end all and be all, a certain subject, whatever it might be. And that's what the Lord Jesus is, in all that's being done by God, all centers in him. And we cannot read the New Testament without seeing that this is true. If you think of all the blessings that the church has, there he stands out preeminently. In all things, he must have the preeminence. If there is a body, he is the head. If there is a flock, he is the shepherd. And we can think of all the other blessings, and there are many more. If there are priests, he is the great high priest. And if there is a building, he's the cornerstone and the headstone. No, dear friends, he's the living stone to which all the other stones attach. So Christ in every feature, he's the beginning and the ending. He's the one who sets things on. He's the one who fills things out. He's the one who brings things to a completion. Tremendous, glorious person. And oh, this is the one who's coming quickly, and we'll be with him. And I think this is why we find the spirit indicting his glories here to help us to anticipate what a marvelous thing it will be to be in company with this glorious person forever and ever and ever. It's not only that he's forgiven us our sins. Praise God for that. And that's not an elementary blessing. That's a tremendous blessing that our sins should be forgiven. But then think of all the many, many blessings and the many glories that attach to Christ. And we have our part in them. And then he's the first and he's the last. I think I can understand why our brother said that this is the embodiment of all that God is in nature and character. We find three times in this book that he is described as the first and the last. And in the book of Isaiah, God is described three times as the first and the last. And so that may be why our brother said that he's the embodiment of all that God is in nature and character. How could we possibly have known anything about God apart from Christ? Outside the Bible, all the speculation, superstition, and the babblings of men. I quite enjoyed what I read from Mr. Darby some time ago, and especially about men interfering with the things of God. He says, ignorance is always confident because it is ignorant. And that's a very, very short statement, but it's a very real one. And especially in relation to people and interfering with their human minds and intellect into the things of God. And so we find that Christ is the one who reveals God. No one else can. How deeply thankful we are for this. He that has seen me has seen the Father. God was in Christ. God was manifested in the flesh and so on. So many scriptures that tell us that the Lord Jesus Christ was the one who brought to us the knowledge of God. Can man by searching find out God? Impossible. But when we look to the gospels and the epistles, then we find the unparalleled representation of God. He was the image and is the image of the invisible God. So in these three statements, we have a marvelous unfolding of the glory of the one who says, I am coming quickly. Blessed are they who do his, that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the city. You remember in the garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve sinned, the cherubim was placed at the entrance to the garden with the flame of the flashing sword. And that was to prevent them from partaking of the tree of life and to live forever and ever in a state of alienation from God. That would have been a terrible thing, an awful thing for Adam and Eve to be perpetually living in this condition as sinners before God. And so the cherubim, they barred the way to the tree of life. But in the book of Revelation, we find that the tree of life is open to those who are faithful to God and faithful to Christ. They have a right to the tree of life. And we find that the great thought of God is that there will be those in permanency partaking of the tree of life because they have believed in God through Christ. This is the right that they have. Their robes have been washed. They have a right to go in. And this is what God delights in, that there will be people in permanency enjoying the tree of life forever and ever and ever, in contrast to those who have been debarred from it because of their failure. And now we find in verse 16, I, Jesus. We've been speaking about some of the exalted glories of the Lord. How touching it is to hear the Lord speaking of himself in this way. I, Jesus. I think there is only another occasion when he speaks in this way, and that is when he spoke to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus, when Saul says, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus. I want to point this out because I believe it's extremely important. When the Lord speaks about himself, he says, I, Jesus. When we find the response to him at the end of the chapter, Lord, Jesus, that is our privilege and, if you like, responsibility, the acknowledgement of the lordship of this glorious man called Jesus. And it's quite true, perfectly true, that all through the New Testament, not one person ever addresses Jesus as Jesus without an accompanying title. Jesus, thou son of David, Jesus, Lord, but never anyone addressing him as Jesus. And we believe it's right, proper, according to the scriptures, and the omissions of scripture are just as important as the positive statements. And if no one, not the disciples or Paul or any other person, ever addressed Jesus as Jesus, then we ought to do the same. We ought to address him as Lord Jesus or in any other title that he possesses. This is what the scripture teaches us. And so we would desire to be marked by the spirit of reverence. When he speaks about himself, I, Jesus. When others respond to him, even so come, Lord Jesus. And so we take the example of scripture and obey it. But one feels the beauty of this glorious person presenting himself in this way. Mine, I've often said this and I believe it to be true, we sometimes speak about this lowly name. I would like to alter that. It's not the lowly name. It's the name that the lowly man bore, because the name Jesus is an exalted name. It means Jehovah, the savior, glorious person coming into this world. I shall call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins. Was he Jesus just born into this world? Is that when he became Jesus? I know that's the name he received in lowly manhood, but he was Jesus. He was Jehovah, the savior, before ever he was born into this world. You can prove this in many, many instances that the Jesus of the New Testament is the Jehovah of the old. But here he says, I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. And here again, we find some marvelous descriptions of our Lord. I am the root and offspring of David and the bright and morning star. We believe that the root of David is a reference to his deity. We believe that the offspring of David is a reference to his manhood and the place that he occupies as son of David, king of Israel. You remember that the Lord Jesus said to the people around him, whose son is he? And they said, son of David. Well, he says, how is it that David by the spirit calls him Lord? And they couldn't understand that. The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand until I make thy foes thy footstool. And the Lord Jesus was showing there indisputably that not only was he the son of David, but he was also David's Lord. And that of course is a reference to his deity. So when we speak about him as the root of David, then we're talking about his deity. Now in Isaiah, I think it's chapter 38. We can find distinct proof of this because in Hezekiah's dilemma, you remember he prayed to God about this great army that was attacking Jerusalem and God spoke to him and he says, the God of David, the God of David. There we find the root, the one from whom David sprang and David got his blessing directly from God. God chose him. God had his eye upon him. God blessed him. God protected him all through his life. And what a man he was for God, the root of David. But then he's also the offspring of David. And we just need to turn to Matthew chapter one and verse one. And we find Matthew, the writer of the gospel says, son of Abram, son of David, or it may be the opposite way. But it's the question of the promises, unconditional promises given to Abram and also kingship in connection with David. And here is the one great David's greater son, the son of David who comes to fulfill the covenant made with David so long ago. I think it's Psalm 89. I'm not quite sure. I think it is Psalm 89 where God continually refers to the great things he has in mind for David, David, his servant. And of course it was impossible for them to be fulfilled in David. They are only fulfilled in great David's greater son. And I think it's Psalm 72 where it said a prayer, prayer of Solomon for his son, or rather David's prayer for his son, Solomon. And there we find that the things that David prays for can only be fulfilled in Christ. And so here is another glorious presentation of the son of God. Think of that as deity being presented and also the future when he'll reign as David's son, the king of Israel, the one who is right, who's right. It is to reign marvelous glories only could be fulfilled in the son of God. And this is the one who says, behold, I come quickly. Then he says, I am the bright and morning star. You know that when the Lord Jesus Christ was here, he described himself as the light of the world. And he was that he came into the world in a condition of absolute darkness in relation to God. He was a bright light indeed. Remember in Matthew, it says a particular area of Palestine, a great light sprung up and that light was the Lord Jesus Christ and his ministry dispelling the darkness and bringing to light the most wonderful things in relation to God. And in relation to the people who would believe in God, tremendous light. And again and again in the gospel by John, we find him mentioning about the light that was dispelling the darkness. Has our darkness been dispelled? Praise God it has. We've been delivered from the authority of darkness. We've been translated into the kingdom of the son of his love. We've been called out of darkness into God's marvelous light. And then you remember when the Lord Jesus went on high, all the light of the church was diffused. Tremendous light was flooded into the souls of men and women. Not light has been shining ever since. And we are very, very grateful for that. But when he says he's the bright and morning star, he's the herald of a new day and a new day that the church is going to share with him. We could also say in closing in that respect that he's the son of righteousness in relation to Israel when he will rise with healing in his wings and the nation will be blessed under him. Oh, how great he is. We cannot think of anything in the scripture that has to be fulfilled, but it's fulfilled in Christ. Oh, how tremendously great he is. And we're thankful for his competence, his ability, his greatness, the powers of the resident in him to bring these things to pass and to fulfillment. So as the bright and morning star, he's the herald of a new day for the church. As the light of the world, that's what he was here in humble manhood. As the son of righteousness, it's what he is in connection with Israel and its coming glories and blessing. And now we find him saying, or rather find it said, the spirit, the bride say come. The spirit and the bride say come. Let us consider for a moment the operations of the spirit of God for nearly 2000 years. Maybe we don't think enough about it, but think of the prodigious work, if I can explain it in that way, that the spirit of God has undertaken to look after every child of God from the day of Pentecost right up till the time the Lord comes. All the care and all the communicating of the mind of God and all the problems that beset the saints of God and the spirit of God working ceaselessly in relation to that. Maybe we can read into this the longing of the Holy Spirit that this day of grace might come to an end and the day of glory begin. His work has been ceaseless as the work of the Lord Jesus has been ceaseless at the right hand of God as the high priest, as the advocate and as many, many other ways. And so the spirit is longing, we believe longing for this day to come to an end and the church complete and the bride presented to Christ in all its glory and its beauty. Not through any faithfulness of its own, although there is an indication that the wife, she makes herself ready. It's the righteousnesses of saints, not the righteousness of God or of Christ, but the righteousnesses of the saints. That's her garment. She puts it on. It's what has been inwrought by the Holy Spirit of God in faithfulness in the saints in the day of trial and difficulty and opposition. And then the church will be clothed in all the glory and beauty of Christ and in all the worth of his work plus its own faithfulness and what a church that will be for the Lord Jesus. But here we find an affinity between the spirit and the bride, the spirit and the bride say come. Oh would to God that this cry was awakened in all our hearts, in earnestness, in sincerity, in reality, not simply a platitude, not simply a cry that we know is the right thing to say, but coming from longing hearts, the Holy Spirit producing this in your heart and in mine. And of course, when we speak about the bride, we cannot possibly think of a company of Christians, anything of a sectarian character that must be completely and totally put out of our minds. The spirit and the bride say come. Every blood-bought child of God composing the bride, those who have gone to be with Christ, their spirits are with him. Those who are living upon earth, perhaps the cry comes principally from them, the spirit and the bride, those upon earth crying for the return of the Lord Jesus. My, wouldn't it be wonderful if that were accomplished. Maybe too here there is a hint or perhaps a suggestion that we ought to be more concerned about unity amongst the children of God. A nearness crying out from the bride, overriding all the difficulties and all the problems that beset the church of God with its divisions in that way. Oh how wonderful if this could be secured just for a short period. It would have to be a short period because the church was set up in glory and power on the day of Pentecost, but it didn't last very long. Neither did the Brethren movement last very long before it was beset with troubles and trials and divisions. And so if there was to take place, if this blessing took place in the future, a revival of interest that brought the saints together in one united cry, it would need to be for a very short time because if it wasn't, it would be beset the company with all the divisions and trials and breakdown that has beset the church from the beginning. But one would like to think, dear Brethren, that this will be secured in our hearts by the Spirit just before the Lord comes. The Spirit and the bride say come. And of course we know that many, many Christians are looking, longing for the return of the Lord and we trust we are amongst them and pray that this desire may grow in our hearts for the return of this glorious person. And notice here there is no question about the great benefits that will accrue to us. That's not the point in this passage. It's the greatness of the person of Christ, the greatness of the one who is coming. And of course it will be a tremendous blessing to be with him. But the Spirit and the bride say come and let him that heareth say come. That's you and me. As we hear the word of God this evening, let us all say come. Can we all say that? I know that there are many things that are near and dear to our hearts, many things that we enjoy in nature's tie, excellent, of God, and we appreciate them all. Maybe we have great aspirations for business or for advancement in intellect and the like. Maybe we have great desires. Could we say honestly that we'd be glad to leave them all and say come? I believe we could if we understood the greatness of the person and the glory of being with him. We're so earthbound that it's natural for us to think in terms of earth because terms of glory is something that's beyond us naturally. But the Spirit would produce this in us. Come. Let him that heareth say come and let him that is a thirst come and whosoever will let him take the water of life freely. It may be that along with the great desire of the Spirit of God to produce this call in our hearts there will be a great evangelical activity and we can say praise God yes that is taking place at the present moment. We're not surprised in this country where largely the people have turned their back upon God we see very little of it but we're deeply thankful that in many parts of the world there are many many souls being converted and there are many many Christians who are being faithful to the Lord. There in the city of Bucharest in the country that has seen so much trouble there are 200 believers meeting together and remembering the Lord just as we do and doing it in great sacrifice to themselves happy to come together and in many parts of eastern Europe that is true and we can see in many parts of the far east thousands are being converted. Yes praise God there are those who are coming who are a thirst and they'll all have part all those who believe in Christ will all have their part in this great and wonderful event the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then it says in verse 20 he which testifies these things saith now it's the Lord Jesus he's the one who's testifying remember at the beginning of the book he writes to John by an angel or testifies through an angel and here at the end of the book he says he which testify these things saith surely I come quickly. Does he need to emphasize it God speaketh twice yet once yea twice well the Lord Jesus has spoken twice twice he said I come quickly and so a third time he emphasizes he's coming he which testifies these things saith surely I come quickly and so says John amen even so come Lord Jesus. Should we end on that note no more to be said even so come Lord Jesus. …