[0:00] Gracious and our blessed Lord, we would thank Thee that Thou art leading Thy people, every one of them, to a city which has been prepared for them.
[0:21] And grant us this evening that we would not forget that as we gathered here yesterday to profess Thy name, that in the very profession that we were making, we were professing that we were journeying on towards that better country. And we pray that Thou, the Lord, would grant us Thou known presence here this evening, the effective presence of Thy Spirit in convicting us of our sins and in enlightening us in the knowledge of the way of salvation in Christ.
[1:11] That Thou would help us to appreciate more the greatness, the freeness, the relevancy and the effectiveness of that way of salvation.
[1:24] And as we ponder and reflect upon it, that Thy Holy Spirit may indeed be made manifest in enabling us to concentrate our thoughts on the things of the Lord.
[1:42] For the divided heart is not commended by Thee. It is to be avoided and we pray that Thou would deliver us from it. And especially in the act of worship.
[1:57] O Lord, we confess before Thee that we are poor, we are needy. But yet again may we know that the very sacrament administered among us pointed indeed to a people, people who are needy, people who are needy, people who are needy, people who are needy. People who have to take a lowly place and confess before Thee that the one who died for them, died in their room and stand.
[2:29] I saw no wonder on the one hand they are poor, on the other hand they are rich. They are the riches of Christ. The riches provided in a covenant of grace.
[2:42] And we pray that Thou would bless them, Thy own children, who profess Thy name, as they have gathered this evening for thanksgiving, for praising Thee.
[2:55] And that the word of exhortation may be to her heart, blessed, O Lord. For thou knowest how from the history of Thy people of old, and from the history of the New Testament Church, not only during the period of the canon, but ever since. We know how Thy Church drifted away from Thy word, how Thy Church deceived herself so often, thinking that Thou Thyself wast in the midst of them, and yet to a large extent Thou hast withdrawn from them, and they themselves, coming near unto Thee with their lips, and their heart far away.
[3:48] But O we thank Thee this evening, that our standing in Christ does not depend even on our petitions, that meeting our needs doesn't depend on our understanding of what our needs are, of what our needs are, or what the particular things and riches that we need to meet these needs.
[4:15] Because we are told that the infirmity of our ignorance, of our lack of understanding, that this infirmity is met, in Thine own provision of grace.
[4:28] For the Holy Spirit makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And we thank Thee that this is the privilege which belongs to every one of Thy children. It's a wonderful thought indeed.
[4:47] When O Thou people feel that they are not eloquent, that they cannot put their thoughts in order, that they cannot express themselves before Thee, they cannot even pour out their heart in the proper way. They are indeed thankful that the third person of the Trinity, who is omnipotent, and who is omniscient, that He is making intercession.
[5:15] And that intercession made, in a most unusual manner, when it comes to our bearing upon God Himself, He makes intercession for his groanings, which cannot be uttered.
[5:31] But the experience of the children, and their self-consciousness in the world, does indeed know something of this very expression of the intercession of the Spirit as they groan before Thee.
[5:52] We pray that Thou would bless all Thy children, that they would indeed walk before Thee as lights in the world, as the salt of the earth, so that their conversation, their behaviour in the world, would be such that people would take note of them, and that they would not be faulted.
[6:22] We pray that Thou would bless the congregation here. We thank Thee for the ministry that is being carried on here from week to week.
[6:34] We pray that Thou would bless the Lord. We pray that Thou would bless Thy servant abundantly. We bless him in his health. Bless him in his soul. Bless him in his ministry.
[6:45] Both his pulpit ministry and his pastoral ministry. And bless his family, his home.
[6:56] We pray that Thou would bless them all in the work of the Lord. And we pray that Thou would bless the office bearers, as they uphold the hands of Thy servant.
[7:11] We pray that Thou would bless them, and we pray that Thou would bless them, and we pray that Thou would bless them, and we pray that they would be all enriched, and that they would find much joy in working for the Lord in this place.
[7:34] We pray that Thou would bless them, and that they would bless them, and that they would bless them, and that they would bless them all in the way. And those who are here, who will come, who are the regular hearers of the Gospel, who have not yet professed Thy name, but who remember themselves among those who attend the means of grace, Sabbath after Sabbath. We pray that Thou would bless the ministry that is being carried on, not only in pulpit and here by way of pastoral visitation, but also ministering in every way in which ministering is done.
[8:30] There are so many avenues, and so many here who have pulled the hands of Thy servant, as they help them from week to week, and as they help them in so many ways, that all these ministers be blessed.
[8:47] And we pray that Thou would bless them, and we pray that Thou would bless them, and that they are the people, and however much they stand by the group or branch of the Church, and to which they themselves belong.
[9:10] And they belong for a reason, belong with conviction, and yet their sympathies, and their love, go forth to the seeds throughout the earth.
[9:25] And they consider Thy Church, and they consider Thy Church, and they consider Thy Church in the last analysis as one Church, Thy Kingdom as one Kingdom, Thy glory afterwards as one glory.
[9:40] And so we pray that Thou would bless them, and so we pray that Thou would bless them, and so we pray that Thou would give us grace tonight to pray for the fowl and so Thy Kingdom, not only in this town, not only in the branch of the Church to which we belong, not only in this country, and but throughout the world.
[9:59] And we pray that Thou would give us a vision to realize that Thou must pray until all Thine enemies are made Thy footstool.
[10:10] We would thank Thee, and so we would thank Thee, and so we would thank Thee, and so we would thank Thee for the supremacy, and the preeminence of Christ, and the way we sometimes feel so afraid, so anxious, as if the cause of Christ rested on our shoulders.
[10:26] O help us to realize that Thou hast placed the cause of Thy people on the shoulders of the Redeemer. We pray that Thou would enable us to realize the privilege it is, and to share in the work of the Kingdom.
[10:44] We pray, Thou, Lord, that Thou would remember the nations of the world, that they may become the nations of Thy sin, the Kingdoms of Christ, for every Kingdom, every nation that shall not bow down before Him, it shall be destroyed.
[11:01] We see various powers rising up here and there, various sects, various beliefs, challenging the sin of God, challenging the one who has been appointed and set as King of Zion.
[11:19] Despite the rebellion of men, despite the unbelief of men, despite the activities of scoffers, Thou wilt, O Thou wilt indeed fulfill Thy promise.
[11:32] Be with us, we pray Thee then, at this thanksgiving service, and crown the service with Thy blessing. Without Thee, it is all a desolation.
[11:44] With Thee, everything is in order. And take away our sins in Christ. Amen. We may now turn for a little while to the chapter we read in the second epistle of Peter, the third chapter.
[12:03] And we may read again verses 10 and 11. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.
[12:22] The earth also, and the worlds that are therein, shall be burned up. See then, that all these things shall be dissolved.
[12:35] What manner of passions ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God.
[12:48] And as we have come to the thanksgiving service of the communion services, it is usual to have either a word of encouragement, a word of comfort, or a word of exhortation.
[13:17] And yet again we cannot think of these in isolation as far as the gospel of Christ is concerned, as far as the people of God are concerned.
[13:32] We cannot think of them separately. We can distinguish between them, but we must remember that even in the exhortations given to the people of God in God's own word, there is much comfort.
[13:49] And even in the instructions that they find in the Lord and Savior, there is much exhortation. And in the very comfort that they find in the Lord and Savior, there is many notes of warning found in it.
[14:07] That is, if we follow God's own word, we may give exhortations of our own which are not based necessarily on God's word at all.
[14:20] And therein we find no comfort. And we may give comfort of our own which does not align with God's own word.
[14:33] And in such a comfort, there is no exhortation or warning. But I am sure that the children of God all notice the wonderful equilibrium, the wonderful balance of emphasis that is found in God's wonderful revelation as he has given it to his church on earth.
[15:00] Now, the apostle Peter is speaking here to the people of God. He says, Beloved, I know right unto you. And he wants to stir their pure minds by way of remembrance, that they would remember what they had heard.
[15:27] See, we are so forgetful. This is what played the children of Israel and the Old Testament and the children of Judah. They were always forgetting. And not only that they were always forgetting, but so many times when they were remembering, they were remembering things in their own perspective.
[15:53] They were remembering things that would add to their own stature. Instead of remembering them in the way in which the Lord would have them remember, be remembered.
[16:07] They were always, I say, forget. And that is true of us all. You know that in your own experience of God's grace, how many times you have come from a throne of grace, as it were, you have come from a throne of grace of God's grace of God's grace of God's grace of God's grace of God's love and kindness to you.
[16:39] You know that in your own death may be on account of a very special deliverance that he effected on your behalf. But whatever the reason you have found, I am sure many times that this was all to keep this before your mind, that it was impossible for you not to forget.
[17:01] So this is part of the ministry that the Lord provides for his church. And that ministry is not confined to the purport ministry.
[17:13] It's a ministry that can and is effected by all members of the Church of Christ in the world. You see, we will think that things have to be big in our estimation in order to be big in the sight of God.
[17:31] But that's not how God works at all. The things through which God works are things through which he is to be glorified. And surely there is nothing that shows forth the power and glory of God in the edification and building up of his church on earth.
[17:48] More than the weak means. It's small and little insignificant, you might say, means that he uses. When you speak a word to a friend, to a neighbor.
[17:59] When you speak a word to a fellow brother. And to a brother in Christ or to a sister in Christ. It doesn't matter how inadequate you think you are.
[18:12] God may bless these things not because of the elements of your language. Not because of the choice of words. Not because of the diplomacy of your approach.
[18:25] Not because of your friendship with that person. But he blesses it because of his own kindness and his own grace. And shows forth the power.
[18:35] The wonderful power of his grace working to the fruition of the work began.
[18:47] And the completion of that work. Everything converging on the day of the Lord. Now, we may think that things are at a standstill.
[19:02] But then I would argue. There is so much confusion in the world. And we try to analyze. We try to diagnose. We even enter into the realm of prophecy.
[19:15] And then we give up. God is working steadily on it.
[19:28] His step goes on, step after step, converging upon the purpose, the fulfillment of his redemptive purpose as regards his church.
[19:40] Just the same as you see, when you see a colossal roadwork going on in many parts of the world, you wonder what's happening.
[19:52] You pass it day after day and everything becomes more confused. You are not, of course, on the inside. You don't know what's going on.
[20:02] You haven't seen the plans on paper. And you wonder what it's all about. But things seem to be at a standstill because they are working at certain other things that have to be corrected or have to be finished before the things that you are looking in, before they are carried on any further.
[20:26] And then one day you arrive on the scene and you see that the work is completed. The highway is finished. The traffic is running smoothly. And then it dawns on you why you were so puzzled and so baffled about the appearance standstill that you thought was there.
[20:51] Now, be that as it may, it is true that the work of Christ is going on. The work of the Zion God. God hasn't, the Father hasn't given the promises to his son in day.
[21:05] Here, he is going to fulfill every one of them. And he is there in the right hand of God the Father, waiting until all his enemies are made his footstool.
[21:15] The children of God, they have great reason for rejoicing. They have great reason for repentance.
[21:29] They have great reason for confession. They have all these. But amidst them all, and through them all, they have great reason for rejoicing.
[21:41] The rejoicing of which the word of God speaks is not always the shallow, mindless joy that the world calls rejoicing.
[21:54] It is not that at all. They are rejoicing in Christ Jesus. And there is a man and a woman there, a woman there, a boy or a girl, who is indeed concerned about their own sins.
[22:10] Who are confessing their sins before God. Who are concerned about the cause of Christ in the world. Who are mourning over their own inconsistency.
[22:20] And who do not depend upon what they can do. And despite their deep concern. Despite their deep repentance.
[22:34] Despite all that. Or should I say, should I not say because of all that. They are found rejoicing in the law of Jesus Christ. And if you think that they are not.
[22:46] You just try and take that saviour away from them. And you'll find how much they will cleave to him. Because it wasn't they who contacted as it were him.
[23:01] It was him who began the good work. And they are in union with Christ. That is never underestimated. The cohesive power of the union.
[23:15] That has been affected between the sinner and the saviour. There are many attasives in the market. And there are no great claims for them.
[23:26] When you buy some of them you disappoint. Because they do not keep the things together. They come apart. When you put a lot of pressure.
[23:38] And when you lower them too much. But the cohesive power of the union of us and our with the saviour. Is something that the devil never invented.
[23:52] An instrument sharp enough. To go in between the sinner and the saviour. So child of God. Whatever your heart is tonight.
[24:03] Whatever your thoughts. Whatever your thoughts. Whatever your anxiety. Whatever your grief. Do rejoice in your saviour. No power.
[24:14] The flesh is arrayed against you. The world is arrayed against you. The devil is arrayed against you. But these forces can never break your thunder.
[24:27] From the saviour of the lost. The redeemer of God's elect. To soul. This is whatever will happen.
[24:40] A lot of things are happening. A lot of things are happening in the world. And it is good. In the midst of the things that are happening in the world. That you would keep your eye.
[24:53] Straight upon the star. Ahead of you. You all know the story of the man crossing. No way of going to fall. You all know the illness. But without. You all know theûring that.
[25:06] Once you take your eye. From the Lord Jesus. Just the same as Peter. You know Peter looked around. He saw the pillows. He started. He started going in.
[25:19] He started going in there. So it is, when you start looking at this and that, and start considering this theory and that theory, and get involved in them, get enmeshed in them, get engrossed in them, get entangled in them, then you do not know where you are, and it drains your spiritual energy.
[25:43] Actually it drains your spiritual energy and awakens your witness. But you look to the source of your power, you look to him. Just because you can't figure out how things are going to work out, that doesn't mean to say that he doesn't know. Of course he knows.
[26:04] And just the same as the person who dives down into the evolution, finds that the billows of power are not necessarily found in the depths of the sea, so there is, there is calm always around the throne of your Saviour.
[26:23] There is always calm around his throne. As you see the billows here below, you see the storm, you see the darkness, you see the confusion.
[26:36] But there is no confusion with him. It is always daylight around his throne, though he surrounds himself in darkness, as we are told, showing us how he hides his face on account of the sins of his people in the world.
[26:55] There were those who did not believe that the Lord was coming again. And we often think that because of the confusion in theological circles concerning the sceptre of eschatology, concerning the matter of the last days, that we very often deny ourselves and our people the benefit of reminding them and us that the Lord Jesus is coming again.
[27:33] And yet it is all clearly taught in his word, even in the words of the institution, or the words of the institution in the sacrament.
[27:45] And we are showing forth his death till when? Till he come. Till he come. So there is an end to the sacrament. There is an end to it.
[28:02] It is only going to be shown forth until the Lord Jesus will come again. And despite all that scoffers will do, despite all that unbelievers will do, despite all that the power of hell will do, and by the day of the Lord, by the day of the Lord will come.
[28:26] Despite all that, here it will come, the certainty of the day of the Lord. And I believe that there is implied here the certainty of the advancement of the kingdom of Christ, that that kingdom goes on, the kingdom that has no end at all.
[28:47] And it doesn't matter what is arrayed against it, that that kingdom goes on. The day of the Lord will come. Now we take it, as I think we would all agree, we take it, that is with us, to his second coming.
[29:03] He has come once, and he came once to attend to sin. That was his main mission, in coming the first time. When he is coming again, he is not coming in that goal at all. He has dealt with sin once.
[29:19] He doesn't need to supplement it any more. He doesn't need to improve upon what he has done. He doesn't need to attend to it in any way. He has done this efficiently.
[29:31] efficiently. He doesn't need to supplement it anymore. He doesn't need to improve upon what he has done. He doesn't need to attend to it in any way. He has done this efficiently.
[29:46] He has done this thoroughly. He effected that for which he came. When he purged out sins, he sat down on the right hand of God, the right hand of his majesty on high. When he purged out sins, no. This I take to refer then to a second coming, that he is coming once more.
[30:12] The very Jesus that ascended, he is coming again. He has been glorified. Though we take it that there are degrees in that glorification, in the 17th chapter of John we remember that he prays unto the Father to glorify him, to glorify him. Now, if he had this glory with the Father, and he is in heaven constantly, in his divine nature, surely he was referring to himself as the mediator, as the God-man. And the human nature there on earth, the human nature to which this prayer ascended, and from which this prayer arose, that human nature had never been in heaven.
[31:02] And that human nature can only be in one place at a time. His divine nature is everywhere. His human nature is only in one location. And that human nature was the human nature, we should have said.
[31:17] Christ in his human nature have not as yet been glorified. We speak of his glorification to the cross, but I think it meant more than that. I think it meant the ascension, the reward, the ascension to the right hand of God the Father.
[31:34] And in that sense, he has been glorified. But the epitome of his glorification surely will be seen, when he shall be glorified in all his sins, in the day in which he shall appear on the clouds of heaven, in the day in which he shall appear in the glory of his Father, with the holy angels, in the day when the dead will rise, and meet him in the air, and those who are in the grave, those who are in the graves will rise first, and those who are left in earth, their mortality will be covered with a mortality.
[32:18] The impudence of mortality, as you remember in the first chapter of 2 Corinthians, some people made a very definite distinction there, between corruption and incorruption, and mortality and immortality. Now I don't know if that is correct.
[32:38] Applying the one to those in the graves, and to all, put on incorruption. Applying the other to those on earth, who shall put on immortality. Now do you have a potion here? Do you have any, do you have any state here? Do you have any sails here?
[32:55] It's a terrible thing to be going around the sacraments, to be taking a sacrament, to be discussing spiritual things with our fellow men, to be even like we are trying to preach the gospel, and never giving a thought to the fact that an end to these things, that our Lord is coming again, that he is coming, and he is, and that he is going to bring his own, unto him, and to him, every one of them. But the day of the Lord will come, the certainty of that day, and it doesn't matter who says that it won't, and many will, and belief, I said, will not keep it back.
[33:38] He is long-suffering. He is long-suffering. They say, where is the, where is the sign of him, of his coming, of his promise?
[33:52] But let, remember, we must remember this, friends, that God is not slack concerning his promise. The time hasn't come yet for him to appear. When that time comes, he will appear.
[34:07] He will come as a thief in the night. Now, obviously, it is not the quietness that is emphasized here, because there will be a great noise. At least I don't think it is. That could be.
[34:27] But I don't, I think it is rather the unexpectedness. The unexpectedness, despite all the signs that will be before, and even entertaining the view of the post-millennium, even then, there will be a certain unexpectedness.
[34:50] No one knows exactly when the thief will come. The thief comes in the night. No one knows when. And this is one reason why we should be always watchful.
[35:03] But, friends, there is a comforting thought here, that our safety does not depend on our powers of observation, or our powers of interpretation, or on our prophetic vision.
[35:20] In pinpointing, as it were, the time of the Lord's coming. That's in his old, that's in the Father's hand. And we do not know.
[35:33] We definitely, and absolutely do not know, when he will come. There will be a certain unexpectedness. He will come.
[35:45] Now, those who are depending on their powers of observation will certainly have to be on their left. The children of God must be too.
[35:56] But, they are not, their salvation doesn't depend on this. Because, actually, who, the one who is coming, they are looking forward to his coming.
[36:08] He's their own Lord and Saviour. He bears, we believe, the marks of his death. The one you are remembering here yesterday, when we were trying to, when we were administering the sacrament, and you were trying to remember his dying love.
[36:26] That's the one who is coming again in our nature. Now, that is the unexpectedness. And also, there will be a terrific suddenness in this.
[36:42] I don't think when the Lord will come, that he will come slowly. That he will come, as it were, by degrees. He'll appear, just as the lightning is seen from one part of heaven to another.
[36:58] And, there will be this suddenness. No one will tell you, come out and see, the Lord is coming. No one can say that.
[37:11] No one will call his neighbour and say, I see him in the clouds. It happens, it happens before it can be said. Her words are not fast enough to keep time with the coming of the Saviour.
[37:28] There will be a sudden coming. And that suddenness, the very suddenness of his coming, means indeed great salvation for his people.
[37:39] But it means terrific confusion and eternal shame for those who cannot find refuge under his shadow. Is there anyone here tonight who hasn't betaken himself or herself to the place appointed by God where sinners are forgiven and where sinners are received, where sinners are blessed and transformed are made as saved in Christ.
[38:12] Because when the second coming will come, will take effect. When the second coming of the Lord, it will be so sudden that your dearest friend, the person you learn most in the world, if he is in Christ or if she is in Christ, cannot tell you.
[38:32] They'll have no time to tell you. There'll be no time at all for anyone to tell us anything. And I think that is brought out in the Gospels. The two that are together, one is taken, the other is left.
[38:45] There'll be no time for discussion, no time for debate, no time for comparing notes and wondering if this is the view that you had.
[38:57] And it'll be so completely beyond anything that you had ever thought of that you'll be full of wonder. The day of the Lord has come.
[39:09] Now you can't, I say, the suddenness will obviate any discussion and will prevent any discussion on what are you going to do because the Lord appears.
[39:24] The Lord is there. He's there in the midst of his people. And there'll be no star as there was guiding the people, the men of old, guiding them to the place of Bethlehem.
[39:42] There'll be no star guiding any of us because every eye shall see him. Every eye shall see him. You say, that's an impossibility.
[39:52] Every eye of those who were saved from the beginning of time and to the end of time. How come? It's a physically same possibility for every eye to see the Lord.
[40:08] And definitely it would be if things were in the present order. But have you ever thought of the drastic, radical, unheard of, at least unconceived of by human beings, a change that will take place?
[40:27] See, when the Lord will appear, in the sudden appearance of the Lord, the eternal order is established instantly.
[40:38] The eternal order. And we are now in the eternal order when we speak of every eye shall see him. Every eye shall see him.
[40:50] No one need them. And if you are a child of God and you haven't spoken to a sinner ever about his need of Christ, well, don't leave it until that day.
[41:03] However jealous you'll be that day, you will have no time to speak to your neighbor, to speak to your family, to speak to your brothers or sisters in the flesh, and telling them to seek refuge in Christ.
[41:18] There'll be no time given. No wonder we are reminded to redeem the time and make the best aware of every minute of our time in the service of our Lord and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
[41:34] Yes, there will be suddenness and this radical nature of the change, the radical nature, the eternal order brought in.
[41:47] And we are told of that day that there will be a great noise as the heaven shall pass away, whatever it means by that.
[42:00] You know, the words create noise, some people translate them a terrific crash, a terrific crash. And the word that is used there for noise conveys the idea of a passing arrow, the whiz of a passing arrow, the sound of a passing arrow.
[42:30] Now, doesn't that also convey swiftness? When we speak of a great noise, we think of a noise like thunder that goes on, a noise like thunder that goes on for a while.
[42:44] Those of you who were bombed during the war, those of you who were in ships that were bombed, if you were down asleep at the time, you know what happened, or in houses ashore and bombs struck the building, you know, that sound, you thought probably the end of the world was there.
[43:04] Well, I don't believe that that's how it will be at all according to this. There's a swiftness in the crash. There's a swiftness in the noise that you can't even stand to listen to it.
[43:17] It happens. It's done. The swiftness of this terrific crash, of this terrific crash, of this noise that passes, of the arrow that passes, I'm dared to apply the words of the psalm Be not afraid of the arrows that go by, as it were, in the night.
[43:47] Be not afraid, those of you who are in Christ. It must be a dreadful day for those who will not take refuge under his covering, his wings.
[43:59] It must be a dreadful day, but it must be a wonderful day for you who believe in the Savior. or are you, are you like many of us are, oftentimes forgetting that the Savior is coming again?
[44:16] Well, if you are, and if I am, let us repent here and now. let us seek God's forgiveness for the way in which we have overlooked the fact that he has told us that he is coming again and that we ought to work for, believe me, or rather, believe God's word, the night is coming in which we know one can work.
[44:43] The night is coming in which no passion can work. So, work while it is day. Work while it is day. So, you'll, but you say to me now, well, that's, that's not too difficult to, uh, believe nowadays with the advancement of nuclear power and explosions and all the other types of explosions that, of which scientists are capable.
[45:18] I believe, you say, that it is not so remote as it was in days gone by. But friend, that is not, I say, the way of faith.
[45:30] That is not the way of faith. I do not believe for one moment that the God of heaven who created the heavens and the earth is going to live in the hands of scientists or of mouth human beings, is going to live this, this, dissolving, dissolving act.
[45:55] No, this will be an act of God, an act of God. It will not be through, just by men.
[46:06] We say so often, if a nuclear war would start, that the whole earth would be like an incinerator. Maybe it will, but that is not what is meant here.
[46:20] It's an act of God. The heavens will melt with fervent heat. The earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
[46:32] Where will you be then? Where will you be then? You know how, how dreadful, we haven't had any experience of it, but maybe many people here had, of being somewhere there has, where there has been a definite earthquake.
[46:55] And, ordinarily, when a thing shakes, or when you feel like falling, you take hold of a thing like this, something steady, something stable, a kind of a reference point, or something that you can lean on.
[47:13] But, in an earthquake, everything moves. So, it doesn't matter what you take hold of, it goes. Well, that is only a small thing compared to that day.
[47:27] Where are you, I say, who are not in Christ, where are you going to, where are you going to lean, and what are you going to lean, what are you going to take hold of?
[47:42] And the child of God may say, what am I going to take hold of? You need not be afraid. You, as the women at the grave, were told, they were seeking Jesus of Nazareth.
[47:58] And they need not be afraid. And you need not be afraid. You take hold of Christ. Or rather, shall I put it, should I not put it this way, Christ has hold of you.
[48:12] And he sees everyone. Every one of his children are known to him. None of them. Just the same as the angel of death made no mistake when it went into Egypt that night.
[48:29] And the blood was on the, on the, on the, on the, on the, on the doorpost. There was no mistake. Computers can go wrong. Statistics can go wrong.
[48:40] Men can go wrong. But the angel of the Lord does not go wrong. The distinctions were there. The blood on the one hand and the non-blood on the other.
[48:53] And so, the angel that was a terror to one passed over the other. Passed over the other. And so, it is that he knows you.
[49:07] He knows his own. His mark, he has his mark. And you can say, as the psalmist said, the Lord is my shepherd. I'll not want.
[49:19] When he comes, he saved my soul. He saved my body. And not only that, but in that day, that's the day that your body is to be revived or renewed.
[49:32] The body of the resurrection to be likened to his own glorious body. And you're not looking into that day. Your body is deteriorating, going down into the grave.
[49:45] But you say, yes, but the inner, the, the inward man is renewed day by day, day by day. But then, your body will also be renewed.
[49:59] In soul and body, you shall glorify the Lord forever. See then, he says, that all these things shall be dissolved.
[50:11] What manner of passions ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness? And these, incidentally, in the Greek, they are plurals, conversations and godlinesses.
[50:26] Whatever reason for that, maybe it refers to that it covers the whole of life. All our dealings with men.
[50:40] All our the Christians should be should be noted. It's a sad thing when people cannot trust a Christian. And who is to blame?
[50:50] Is it the world? I don't think so. It's us. It's our own inconsistency that we're failing so often and that we have been found wanting so often that people will not trust us.
[51:04] It's a very poor, a very poor witness. Well, he says, considering what is going to take place, considering that there is no place here which is not to be dissolved, considering that the order you're in is to be dissolved, should you not take note of the Saviour who's to come and that you should live to him and say in all situations, thou thou thou seest me, the eye of the Lord is on his own.
[51:41] Remember how the Lord, the psalmist, how it is said in the Psalms that he would direct you with his eye. He directed Peter with his eye and directed him outside the crowd he was with and went out and wept bitterly and just as a mother will with her eye convey a message to her child even when they are in the house.
[52:10] So the Lord conveys with his eye a message to his children and he says to you and to me, now be ye holy for I am holy.
[52:22] Live like this in the world when covetousness gets hold of your heart and mind remind remember God is saying and we sometimes get very anxious about our portion in life and forgetting that the Lord is God of providence and if he's our portion that we need not that we need not fret we need not fret all holy holy holy way of life that is a way of life which is consistent to what God has shown to be his will that's just it and but you say well if I'm in Christ I have that anyway friends that is not confuse the issue here you are if you are in Christ then you are must it were called upon in a specific way through the very things that we are told here to exercise to exercise yourself through the grace of
[53:34] God to attend to these things and to be blameless in the world to be blameless in the world we think of we moan over the lack of power in the church of God but what is the church for those who may get the church and if what is why is why has why have I such lack of power why have I such lack of power in my life is it not because of my inconsistency of course it is a holy person not a person who tries to be holy by emulating the Pharisees you know they pretended they wanted everyone to show they were fasting but when ye fast wash your faces and wash your head with oil and so that people will not know that you're fasting but your heavenly father knows that you're doing it see there is a there is a grave danger of following the holiness of the flesh putting on long faces and putting this and that and it's very near to every one of us
[54:46] I'm sure that you are just as conscious of it as I am this kind of fleshy holiness oh that's not holiness holiness is to be conformed to God's will in our soul in our motives in everything yes and in our actions in all that we do the law of God is the rule of heart and of life it's not one or the other it is both the rule of heart and life and this is godliness in all our deliberations and now some of us are called upon to lead in prayer and to preach and I know that those of you who lead in prayer often wonder am I really thinking about the Lord do you know this that we can't be in the name of worshippers and not be worshipping at all I can't be praying without praying at all there were two men but you say that's not prayer well in the sense it is two men went up to the temple to pray and one prayed in a worshipping manner the other prayed but he certainly didn't worship
[56:00] God but he is able he is able to do this he is able to save to the uttermost and he is able to present you forklest before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy just imagine yourself with all your inconsistencies with all your infirmities with all your failings with all your stumblings yes with all your stuttering as you try to pour out your heart before him all your stammerings he is going to present your forklest before the presence of his glory before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy terrific joy in heaven but when he is there he is not one wrinkle not one crease not one spot not one stain no wonder you'll see the praises of him who washed you who loved you and washed you from your sins in his own blood so in view of these things you are looking for looking for and hasty unto the coming of the day of
[57:20] God and when a Christian is backsliding he wants to put this away this doesn't mean to say that you're going around like the men to whom the angels spoke looking into the skies because the Lord had ascended what are you doing the men of Galilee spoke to the men of Galilee what are you doing there looking up to the skies what did they have to do it's not the way they were going to wait for his coming not at all which other way they were going to attend to his will in the world they they they were going to obey they were going to follow what he wanted them to do this is the way in which we are to wait not looking up to the skies he'll come let him find us find us in his way when he comes so then as we come to the end of the communion season shall we not remind ourselves of these things on the one hand rejoicing in our wonderful
[58:32] Saviour the one that was put to death and over whom death has no power anymore and at the same time remembering how we should give ourselves abandon ourselves to Christ or there are so many things that there are many things that we ought to abandon abandon ourselves to Christ abandon his abandon ourselves I say to him be merged as it were in the love of Christ be merged in the love of Christ and then we will not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit let us pray ever blessed one we pray thy blessing in us here tonight we are awake in dark and so short sighted in our vision but we pray that thy holy spirit may apply the world to us whole and that we may benefit from meditating and consider their precious world their word name and put this one so we often put on interpretations of it on it and we pray on the soul which bless us here to every one of us and we can name especially those who haven't crossed those who are still up to the unindividualities of the tendency who are still up in the energy to