May it please Almighty God to
bless us together this evening as we meditate in His holy word.
Let's turn to the prophecy of Isaiah, chapter 33, and we'll
read verse 17. The prophecy of Isaiah, chapter
33, and reading verse 17. Thine eyes shall see the King
in his beauty. they shall behold the land that
is very far off. I'm sure most of us realise that
the Word of God really has two positions. One is that it addresses
the position which existed at the time that the prophecies
were written and then also it does prophesy of those things
which are to come. And Isaiah, amongst others, lived
in the time of King Hezekiah. And Hezekiah was a good king,
but there were difficulties in his reign when there was opposition.
And this chapter deals partially with that situation. We don't
intend to go through that tonight. It's not an easy chapter to understand,
but that's the background to it. but we need to recognise
also that it does give us a wonderful insight into the spiritual blessings
of which the Lord brings to his church. Nothing that they can
deserve naturally, though it is because of God's grace and
favour, and what a blessing it is therefore if we recognise
the truth and as we trace out in the Word of God those gracious
promises and those gracious positions which the Lord places before
us to encourage us and to strengthen us as you and I travel through
this world. Well, we have one such statement
in this 17th verse and this is a statement which is gloriously
true to every believer. Thine eyes shall see the King
in his beauty, they shall behold the land that is very far off.
So taking it as the spiritual position, realising that of course
the King referred to here is none other than the glorious
Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. And what an amazing truth it
is to think that every true believer by the grace of God, will one
day be found in glory. There we shall see the King of
Kings, the Lord of Lords, the great and glorious Savior with
our eyes, with our own eyes. And that's a wonderful truth,
isn't it? You know, in the book of Job,
Job tells us in the 19th chapter, he tells us about the situation. What he says is this, perhaps
let me just read first of all a couple of verses previously
to that. He says, Oh that my words were
written, oh that they were printed in a book, They were graven with
an iron pen and led in the rock forever. You see, he wanted God's
words to be there positively forever. Then he says, for I
know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand on the
latter day upon the earth. Wonderful revelation this was
to God's servant Job. And it's true for us today. to
have that faith, to believe that indeed the glorious Saviour lives
today. He's in glory, on the Father's
right hand, and He lives forevermore, and that He shall stand on the
latter day upon the earth, the Lord will come, He will return,
we're told that very clearly. when he ascended after he was
raised again from the dead and he ascended into glory and the
angels told the disciples that this same Jesus would come again
in like manner and so there will be the latter day and you and
I don't know when that is it may be very soon when the Saviour
may return and then he says and though after my skin worms destroy
this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for
myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another." What a very
clear and powerful statement that is. Although in the normal
event all of us will die, And all of us will rot, and as we
have here, worms will destroy our body. Yet, in that great
and glorious day of the resurrection, we shall be raised from the dead,
incorruptible and undefiled. And Job tells us very clear,
and mine eyes and our eyes, otherwise there won't be then eyes which
are affected but they'll be perfect the sight will be perfect and
what a great blessing then to come back and realise this truth
before us, thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty to ponder
that sometimes should be a wonderful encouragement to us to realise
that as we travel through this world with many difficulties
and many trials and many temptations, which we're promised, the Word
of God promises us that it will be our life on this earth, but
there is a glorious life to come to all of God's people. And what an urgent and necessary
thing it is for all of us to be concerned that we will be
one of those who will see the King in his beauty. You know, every eye, every eye
shall see the Lord. many the eye of judgment my friends
they won't see any beauty they'll see the God as a great judge
who judges them and casts them away into that pit of destruction
there to exist forever and ever but it is a wonderful favor and
none of us can say that we deserve it and actually for every true
believer confesses that they don't deserve mercy they don't
deserve God's grace they don't deserve God's blessing they don't
deserve to see the king in his beauty but what a wonderful thing
it is to realise that if we have the evidence in our own hearts
that God has loved us with everlasting love, then it will be eternally
well with our souls. And it should be a constant concern
with each one of us to know that we are right with God. We are
encouraged to make our calling and election sure. It's something
that you and I should constantly be concerned about. to have the
wonderful evidence that God has indeed called us, and God has
loved us, and God is guiding us, and He will, in His appointed
time, come and receive us unto Himself. It's a great and wonderful
blessing to think of these things, you know, in the epistle of John,
and we're thankful for the account where The Saviour addressed his
disciples in the upper room in those 14th, 15th chapters in
the Gospel of John. Beautiful words, beautiful situation. And he commences with these words,
let not your heart be troubled. You see, if we have the evidence
that we are born again by the Spirit of God. That's why he
says, let not your heart troubled. Ye believe in God, believe also
in me. And oh friends what a necessary
thing it is to be amongst the true believers, not someone that
just goes on carelessly through this life but concerned to have
the evidence that we have received grace, favour to believe in God
and also in As he says here, we know that the Lord Jesus was,
of course, God as well. Believe also in me. And then
he says, in my father's house are many mansions. That means
in glory. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. That's true of every believer. It's amazing, isn't it, to think,
to look at ourselves so unworthy of any favour, and to think that
God, nonetheless, has gone to prepare a place for us, a place
reserved in heaven, a place that no one else can take. You know where the reserved place
is? If we go into some function or
whatever, there are seats often which are reserved. No one else
can sit in that seat, it's reserved for people. And to think that
there is a place reserved in heaven for each one of his children. And therefore how wonderful this
is. I go to prepare a place for you. And then he says, and if I go
and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive
you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. I often think of Dinah Gibb. Most of you probably will remember,
or at least quite a few will remember Diana Gibbs. She was
a member with us here for quite a few years, and she had quite
an interesting life. But latterly, she was blessed,
and I remember her, she didn't always have an easy life. And I remember one occasion she
told me that she had, when she was young, a boyfriend who she
was very keen on. And this boyfriend gave her up,
much to her sadness. But she said, then, the Lord
Jesus came and took his place. And it was very
precious to her. And really, through her life
then, the Saviour was her chief love. That was a wonderful, wonderful
favour, wasn't it, for her. And she said, towards the end
of her life, the Lord had come and spoken to her. that he would
come and receive her unto himself. That was a very precious word
for her. What may it be a precious word
for us as we think that in due time every one of us would have
to leave this earth. But what a glorious scene it
is to realise that the Lord Jesus will come and receive us unto
himself. as it says here, and receive
you unto myself, that where I am there, ye may be also. And that, of course, for eternity. Well, it's a great blessing,
isn't it, to think of that and to rejoice in it. And so, as
we have this word here, thine eye shall see the King in his
beauty, yes? And that'll be forever, forever
and ever. That'll never cease. we shall
be forever with the Lord. Thine eyes shall see the King
in his beauty. Surely this should be an encouragement
to us. You see, there are many things
in this world to distress us, but to look beyond the things
of time to the things of eternity. Now to the unbeliever, that there
is no attraction there at all. There's no desire. And the reason? This is their home. This is their
home. This world is their home. To
the true believer, this world is not our home. It's not our
rest. But we seek one to come. What a great blessing that will
be for all of us if we are amongst those who are waiting and watching
for the appearing of our great and glorious Saviour, the Lord
Jesus Christ. I think sometimes of those wonderful
words which the Apostle wrote to Titus. Of course, it's a very
short epistle, but a very powerful epistle. And it comes after Timothy. And in the second chapter, towards
the end, he says this, teaching that denying ungodliness and
worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly
in this present world, looking for that blessed hope and the
glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. who gave himself for us, that
he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar
people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort,
and rebuke with all authority, let no man despise thee. Well we know that the Apostle
was looking forward to that time in glory and he tells us For
me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. It is good that
the Lord in his great mercy has given us such testimonies in
the word of God to encourage us in the day and age in which
we live, and to believe, thine eyes shall see the King in his
beauty. The verse is just prior to this
17th verse. Tell us, he that walketh righteously
and speaketh uprightly, he that despiseth the gain of oppressions,
that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his
ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing
evil. That's quite a long list, isn't
it? of things that a godly person should truly desire to be found
doing. Walking righteously, speaking
uprightly, despising the gate of oppressions, and not holding
of bribes that stops our ears from hearing of blood or hearing
of wicked statements. shutting our ears from it, hearing
of blood, and shutting these eyes also from seeing evil. Well, it's a good example, it's
a good testimony for us to realize the relevance and the importance
of such words. And to such, the Prophet says,
He shall dwell on high. His place of defense shall be
the munitions of rocks. Bread shall be given him. We
can think of that in spiritual sense. Heavenly food. His water shall be sure. The
water of life. And then he says, Thine eyes
shall see the King in his glory. So we have these words of direction
for us today. And what a blessing it is then
if we can meditate. And it's good to meditate. I
wonder if We do meditate. I wonder sometimes if you do
sit down and meditate on the things of God. You don't always
have to sit and read. Sometimes you can sit and meditate.
And it's good if you do sit and meditate on the things of God. Not on things which do not profit. Beware that the devil doesn't
like you sitting down and meditating on the things of God. And he'll
try and override your thoughts with the poor thoughts of the
things of time. But may we be given grace and
strength to persevere and to truly meditate upon the great
truths of glory the truths concerning our Saviour oh my friends they're
profitable times they're times of blessing and may we therefore
rejoice in them and thank God that we have such a great and
glorious Saviour so thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty
and again it's wonderful isn't it to realise how positive the
Word of God is. Just a few words here. Thine
eyes shall see. It's not qualified in any other
way apart from the verses that we previously read, the 15th
and 16th verses. They qualify it, but nothing
else. Thine eyes shall see the King
in His beauty. Well, I suppose we can ask the
question tonight. What do we think of a word like
that? How does it affect us? Naturally speaking, we're earthbound. Naturally speaking, we are of
the earth and earthy. But what a blessing it is if
the blessed Spirit of God is placed in our heart. grand glorious
truth of God and that we are found looking forward to that
day when we shall be with Christ again the Apostle Paul said for
me to live is Christ and to die is gain And he had a desire to
depart and to be with Christ, which was far better, but he
was willing to remain on the earth as long as the Lord saw
fit for him. And so it's a good place to be
found in. It's not something that you and
I can produce in our own minds. It's by the grace of God to set
our hearts and our affections upon things above and not on
things on the earth. And it's good to be looking forward
to these things in the Gospel of Luke. We read something of
these things, those things which are to come. And we're told about
the heavenly Jerusalem. and in the 21st chapter of the
Gospel of Luke Luke tells us 28th verse says and when these
things begin to come to pass then look up and lift up your
heads for your redemption draweth nigh and what are these things? well he gives a little list of
these things in this chapter in this 21st chapter of his Gospel
he gives us a little list and he tells us he says, and when
ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies then know that a
desolation thereof is nigh then let them which are in Judea flee
to the mountains and let them which are in the midst of it
depart out and let not them that are in the countries enter therein
for these be the days of vengeance and all things which are written
may be fulfilled and let's not forget that everything that is
written in God's Word will come to pass will come to pass, God
doesn't forget But woe unto them that are with child, and to them
that give suck in those days! For there shall be great distress
in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by
the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive unto all
nations. And Jerusalem shall be trodden
down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. And there shall be signs in the
sun, and in the moon, and in the stars, and upon the earth,
distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring,
men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those
things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven
shall be shaken. shall they see the Son of Man
coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things
begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads, for
your redemption draweth nigh. That was written, as we know,
some 2,000 years ago. So the fulfilment of such words
must be much nearer than it was then. These things will come
to pass and we're on the earth at the present time. And God's
placed us on the earth at this time. Each one of us are here
in God's time. There weren't any mistakes. God
ordained that you and I should be on the earth at this time.
And again, it's good if we ponder this as to what the reason is. Why are we on the earth at this
time? What work has God got for us? What are we to be doing? What are we to be saying? Isaiah
tells us, ye are my witnesses. We are God's witnesses. That's a great privilege. We're
not to hide the things of God. We're not to pretend that we're
not a Christian when, if God has come and blessed us with
evidence that we are. Well, there may be opposition.
People may jeer at you. Does it matter? Not really. It's
just something for a short time. And then we have this great,
wonderful prospect. of our eyes seeing the King in
His beauty. Surely it's worthwhile facing
opposition, facing persecution just for a very short time and
then to be in eternity with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords
and seeing His beauty with nothing to distract us no sin, no sorrow,
no pain, no arguments, but complete peace. What a wonderful prospect
then that is. Thine eyes shall see the King
in his beauty. So may we be indeed found as
true followers of the Saviour, true followers of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and indeed not doing those things which are contrary
to the contrary to God's Word. We want to fulfil the Word of
God, follow His glorious example and follow His wonderful pattern. It's good to do that and to be
thankful for it. We have a statement in the first
epistle to the Corinthians in the second chapter. The Apostle
Paul is writing and he tells us Howbeit we speak wisdom among
them that are perfect, yet not the wisdom of this world, nor
of the princes of this world that come to naught, but we speak
the wisdom of God in a mystery. Even the hidden wisdom which
God ordained for the world unto our glory, which none of the
princes of this world knew, For had they known it, they would
not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written,
I hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that
love him. It really follows on, doesn't
it, from that 14th chapter of John. For God hath revealed them
unto us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things,
yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things
of a man, save the Spirit of a man which is in him? Even the
things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. So you see, naturally, we don't
observe these things. Naturally, we don't hear about
them. It is through the glorious work
of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, which changes our view of things. It's good, isn't it, if you and
I have had our view changed? Whereas perhaps at one time,
our view was set upon just the things of time. Now I'm not speaking
against education. Education is good and necessary,
but we must realize there are things more important than education. There are the great and glorious
truths and blessings that the gospel brings because there's
no true happiness in the things of time. You and I may do very
well in the things of the earth, but they don't compare with the
things of glory when the things of God come into our hearts and
we realise the reality and the eternal blessing of such things
to indeed have our hearts set upon things above and realise
the greatness of this truth I hath not seen nor ear heard neither
have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath
prepared for them that love him." Well you see the things that
God has prepared are so far superior that your mind and my mind cannot
really appreciate how great and glorious it will be and yet you
see the devil would have us spend all our time in the things of
the earth and turn away from the things of God and put the
Word of God and the learning and the understanding of great
truth far from us and really not make any time for the things
of God and make all our time spend all our time on the things
of the earth. Let us realize the things of
time pass away. You and I will pass away. The
things of God are eternal. The things of God are eternal.
The favor of God is eternal. And this truth is eternal. Thine
eyes shall see the king in his beauty. They shall. Behold the
land that is very far off. You and I don't know where heaven
is. We know it's very far off. We
don't know what form it takes. We know of course that there
have been those and the Saviour himself came into this world
and then vanished out of the sight. Those things which are
naturally impossible for us to comprehend. But this is the greatness
of God. far, far greater than anything
that you and I can produce in this world. And I shall see the
king in this glory, and they shall behold the land that is
very far off. Well, I know we spoke something
of heaven a little while ago, and there's not very much recorded
in the word of God with regards to heaven. We spoke from the
7th chapter in Revelation, but there are of course other places
in the Revelation in the 19th chapter in this same book we
read a little about this when John who was on the Isle of Patmos
was given this vision and how wonderful it is that God gave
him this vision and he was to write it down to record it so
that you and I today can read that which God spoke to him all
those years ago. He tells us in the 19th chapter,
he says this, And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse,
and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true, and
in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as
a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. And he had
a name written that no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed
with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word
of God. And the armies which were in
heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen,
white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a
sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations. And
he shall rule them with a rod of iron. And he treadeth the
winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and
on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. And what a wonderful thing it
is if you and I are able to come through faith, believing, that
we come to that one who is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I mention it sometimes in prayer,
as you probably know, and it is a wonderful position to consider. We come to King Jesus, the King
of Kings and Lord of Lords. He rules and reigns, he never
sleeps, and he is alive forevermore. and a blessing it is to think
that if by His grace and by His love and mercy you and I are
found in heaven then with this glorious view to see the King
in His beauty and to behold we shall then behold that land which
is very far off we shall be found in that celestial city or I hath
not seen we can't imagine what it would be like. But yet we
know it'll be a glorious place. And yet, you see, poor man spends
his time slaving away in this poor sinful world for what? Things that perish. Things that
vanish. But what a mercy if God has given
you and me grace, free unmerited favour to seek for eternal blessings
which shall never fade away. Those things which will stand
us in good stead when we come to die and those things which
will land us safe home in glory. The most important thing in our
lives is to have a good hope through God's grace that it is
well with our soul. Well, let us all think of that,
young and old, tonight, in answer to that question, is it well
with our soul? Is it well with our soul? If God was to take us tonight,
would we be in this place or I shall see then the King in
his beauty. Yes, out of the body and to be found
present with the Lord. The Lord knows. My friends, if
we have no desire after these things, and I don't know where
you stand, God knows. You see, we can pretend to be
very good and very right, and say the good and right things.
We only have to think of that terrible character, Judas Iscariot,
in the Word of God, the one who denied the law of Jesus Christ. And when the Lord told the disciples
that one of them should betray Him, He didn't point the finger
at Judas Iscariot. He didn't say, that's the person.
They didn't realize. He didn't realise that he was
the one that was to deny the Lord Jesus Christ. He obviously
had lived a life which didn't separate himself from the other
disciples. And how sad it is today. There
are those who pretend to be Christians. They wear the right clothes,
they say the right things, but they don't possess the grace
of God. They don't possess the life of
God. They don't possess the blessing
of God. They don't possess the evidence
that it is well with their soul. And the evidence of it being
well with our soul is we have the evidence that Christ has
loved us with an everlasting love and with loving kindness
has drawn us unto himself. Nothing in us that deserved it. But how wonderful it is if we
can trace out times when we've been drawn to the Saviour. And He is most precious and most
real. He is indeed to us then the King
of Kings and Lord of Lords. What a blessing and what a favour
for each one of us if we are in that covenant, ordered in
all things and sure. But I know it's written in the
Lamb's Book of Life from eternity, from before the formation of
this world. God loved us, sent his love upon
us, recorded our name in that Book of Life. Well, it's a great
thought, isn't it? It's a wonderful prospect to
the Church of God. And as we have entered into this
new year, may we indeed be found walking by faith. desiring ever
to be found living nearer to the Saviour, following His good
and gracious example, and seeking to show forth His grace, His
love and His mercy to such unworthy sinners, and to, by grace and
by His favour, be able to lay hold on this promise which says,
Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty, they shall behold
the land that is very far off. Amen.