Genesis chapter 12 and verse
1, and then I want you to hold that place and turn over to Acts
chapter 7. Acts chapter 7 and verse 2. The New Testament, the Old Testament
account of the call of Abraham. Genesis 12, 1. Now the Lord,
and you'll notice it says capitalized all the way across. Now the Lord
has said unto Abram, Get out of thy country and from thy kindred
and from thy father's house into a land which I will show thee.
Now turn over to Acts chapter seven, verse two. Stephen here is preaching. Men
and brethren and fathers hearken. The God of glory appeared unto
our father Abraham when he's in Mesopotamia before he dwelt
in Charon. Let us pray. Our father in heaven,
We thank you for the word. It's a lamp unto our feet and
light unto our path. The entrance of that blessed
word gives light and understanding to the simple. We pray that we
will hide your word in our heart that we might not sin against
thee. Father, we ask tonight as we gather here that you might
be pleased to open this book to our understanding and give
us hearts full of praise and thanksgiving for who you are
and what you've done. Father, we remember those who
are sick and those who've been added to the prayer list, Sharon's
daughter, Cheryl, and we ask Lord your help for her. And for
this family who's with a heart condition, that they've had a
heart surgery, we ask, Lord, you'd be with them. The lackeys,
we pray that you would strengthen them and help them and be with
those doctors who must minister to them with this heart condition.
Father, we pray for ourselves here this evening that you might
be pleased to cause us to worship you. We will remember Brother
Wayne and Sister Ethel and Sister Peggy Lambert. Ask Lord you'd
be with them. Pray for Perry, Father, that
the results of this biopsy will be positive and be a good outcome. We ask Lord you'd be a help to
him and be also with Phyllis as she ministers to him and be
with the family. Help us now, Father, and we pray
to worship you in spirit and in truth. We pray in Christ's
precious name and for his glory. In our study of Genesis, in the
second chapter, God begins to refer to himself in a different
manner than he did in the first chapter. In the act of creation,
he referred to himself as God, or Elohim. But as he began to
interact with his creation, especially as it related to the crown of
his creation, which is man, he referred to himself as Lord God,
with a capital L-O-R-D. In creation, he was Elohim. In
interaction, he was Jehovah. That's what capital L-O-R-D,
when you see that in the scriptures, that means Jehovah. This name
relates to what the Bible teaches about the salvation of God's
people, this name Jehovah, the salvation of the elect. It is Jehovah that is the just
God and the Savior. And specific aspects of that
accomplished salvation that Jesus Christ brought on Calvary are
attached to the name Jehovah in Scripture. Ten times in Scripture
the word Jehovah is used and a name is attached to it or a
signification or a title is attached to it. In the Scriptures we have
Jehovah Hosinu which means the Lord, our Maker. We have Jehovah
Jireh, which means the Lord will provide. Abraham called the Lord
that when the Lord provided a lamb for him when he was offering
up Isaac. Jehovah Jireh. You have Jehovah
Rapha, which means the Lord that healeth thee. You have Jehovah
Nisi, which means the Lord our banner. Jehovah Shalom, which
means the Lord, our peace. Jehovah Rah, which means the
Lord, my shepherd. Jehovah Tzidkenu, which means
the Lord, our righteousness. Jehovah Shammah, which means
the Lord is there. And Jehovah Jesus means the Lord
will save. All these names are attached
to the name Jehovah and they all have to do with the salvation
of God's people. So when we're talking about Jehovah,
we're talking about the Savior. the just God and the Savior.
He didn't call Himself that to begin to interact with men. Jehovah
the Savior. The Lord will save. The Lord
our Maker has provided Himself a Lamb with His stripes we are
healed. He is the banner of love over
us. By the blood of His cross, He has made peace, reconciling
us to God. He is our Good and Great Shepherd.
He is our Righteousness. He is there, never leaving us
nor forsaking us, and He will save us. That's what those names
mean. There is no other name so sweet
in all of Scripture. In Stephen's great sermon, that
cost him his life, he brought all these great titles and put
them into one all-consuming nomenclature. Stephen, by inspiration, calls
Jehovah, in Acts chapter 7, the God of glory. The God of glory. And there you have it, expressed
in precise specificity. His salvation is His glory. We can't talk about the glory
of God unless we talk about the salvation that He has wrought.
And He is all of salvation, and all of salvation resounds singularly
to His glory. All of it does. All glory and
honor and power belong to Him according to the revelation of
the Lord Jesus Christ, for He is worthy of all of that. Who is the God of glory? Who
is He? It is none other than Jehovah
Jesus, for in Him dwelleth the fullness of the Godhead bodily
according to Scripture. Who is the God of Glory? David
called Him the King of Glory in Psalm 2, or rather Psalm 24. He said, This the earth is the
Lord's, and the fullness thereof, the world, and all they that
dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the
seas, and established it upon the floods. Who shall ascend
to the Lord, or the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in
his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and
a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul to vanity, nor sworn
deceitfully. That leaves us all out, doesn't
it? All of that description. He shall receive the blessing
from the Lord and the righteousness from the God of his salvation.
This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek you
thy face, O Jacob, Selah. Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
and lift up ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come
in. Who is the King of glory? The
Lord. capital L-O-R-D, Jehovah, the
Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your
heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye everlasting doors,
and the King of glory shall come in. Who is the King of glory? He's the Lord of hosts. He is
the King of glory. When the prophet promised the
King to come in in Zephaniah, chapter 3 he described him this
way. In Zephaniah chapter 3 in verse
17 he described the one who is in the midst of thee being mighty
and he said this, the Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty
he will save He will rejoice over thee with joy. He will rest
in his love. He will joy over thee with singing. This is a description of the
Lord of glory, the one whom Stephen called the God of glory. How
do we know it's his glory? He said it was his glory, the
salvation of his people. That's what glorifies God. If
you're wrong on the gospel, you're wrong on God. It's that simple.
He said to Moses, he would make his goodness pass before him.
He would proclaim the name of the Lord before him. He would
have mercy on whom he would have mercy, and he would be gracious
unto whom he will be gracious, and whom he would, he would harden.
This is the Lord. Now what's he talking about?
Salvation, mercy, and grace is for sinners. The proclamation
of the gospel is for sinners. The goodness of God is what leads
men to repentance. this is the god of glory he's
the king of kings and lord of lords the declaration about him
in the revelation is the lord god omnipotent reigneth he is
the lord of glory who told abraham to get out of his country and
go to another place that he would join the lord of glory did the
lord of glory moses wrote of the lord wrote that the lord
spoke to abraham stephen declared that the lord appeared to abraham
This is not semantics. This means that Abraham had a
face-to-face with the Lord. The Lord spoke to a lot of people.
He spoke to them in dreams. He spoke to them in visions.
But he spoke to some face-to-face. He spoke to Moses face-to-face. And he spoke to Abraham face-to-face.
That's what this word appears means. What is this appearing
called? It's called a Christophany. Christophany. What does that mean? It's a pre-incarnate
manifestation or appearing of Jesus Christ. This happened several
times in the Old Testament. The Lord of glory, Jesus Christ,
appeared unto Abraham. The Lord's appearing is a prominent
theme throughout the Bible and is referred to a number of times
in the New Testament. And they cover appearances from
the incarnation to the cross to the imminent return of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And they mean something to the
people of God. When Paul spoke of finishing
his course in 2 Timothy chapter 4, saying he had fought the good
fight, he said there was a crown of righteousness laid up for
him that the Lord would give him. And not only him, but all
those who love his appearance. love his appearing. Paul, or
rather Peter, spoke the same way of receiving this crown at
the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ. The children of God love
the Lord's appearing. They rejoice in the glorious
fact that he appeared in this world to save them by his blood. That's why he came to this world.
He didn't come to this world to set up an earthly kingdom.
He didn't come into this world, as some men say, to express the
love of God without actually doing anything other than trying
to get people to believe Him. He appeared in this world to
die. He came to die in the room instead
of His people. Scripture says He set His face
like a flint of Jerusalem. He says, I have a baptism to
be baptized with. and you're not gonna be baptized
with it, I'm gonna be baptized with it. And he was talking about
going to the cross of Calvary. We love that appearing of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Over in Hebrews chapter nine,
in Hebrews chapter nine, in verse 26, it says this, it says, for
then he must have often suffered since the foundation of the world,
that is if he was a natural priest, but he's not, but now, once,
in the end of the world, hath he appeared, there he goes, hath
he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. He appeared. John, in first John,
said this about the same appearance, he said in first John chapter
three and verse five, and ye know that he was manifested,
that means he appeared, he was displayed, he was openly revealed. He was manifested to take away
our sins, and in Him is no sin. So He took away our sins, the
sins were laid upon Him, He buried them in the ground, cast them
behind His back, buried them in the bottom of the sea, separated
them as far from us as the east is from the west, where our sins
are, they're gone. They're gone. and there's no
sin in Him. He arose victorious without sin
whatsoever. He put away our sin. When? When
He appeared. He appeared once in the end of
the world to put away sin. His kindness and love appeared
to His people, saving them and revealing His eternal purpose
through the preaching of the gospel. When Paul wrote to the
young preachers in 1st and 2nd Timothy, He said this in 2 Timothy
chapter 1 in verse 9 and 10. He said this, of the power of
God who has saved us in verse 9, and called us with a holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to his own
purpose and grace, which was given us in Jesus Christ before
the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of
our Savior, Jesus Christ. who has abolished death and has
brought life and immortality to light or to understanding
through the preaching or through the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. His kindness, he told the young
preacher Titus over in Titus chapter 3. He said in verse 3,
we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived. serving divers lust and pleasures,
living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another, but after
that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared. How did that happen? When Christ
appeared. That's where the kindness and
love of God towards men appeared. Not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us by
the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which
He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Savior. His kindness and love appeared.
Christ appeared once at the end of the world to take away our
sin. All those who are going to receive that crown of glory
are those who love Christ's appearing. Love is appearing. His people
rejoiced that His intercession for them did not end on the cross. Did not end on the cross. In
Hebrews again, in Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 24, it says this,
Let us therefore abide, excuse me, that's first John, I'm sorry.
Hebrews chapter 9 verse 24 says this, For Christ is not entered
into the holy place made with hands, holy places made with
hands, which are a figure of truth, but into the heaven itself,
now to appear, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Right now in heaven is our intercessor
appearing before God. And I love that appearing. I'm
glad that he appears thusly. It's now. Now. That's always the present tense.
It's always now. If you live ten more minutes,
what time will it be? It'll be now. It will. If you live fifty years, what
time will it be now? It's always now. He is in heaven
now, appearing for us at intercession. We love the appearance of the
Lord Jesus Christ. His people rejoice to know that
when He appears again, He will deal the final blow to sin. Paul
said to Timothy, in 1 Timothy, or 2 Timothy chapter 4, in verse
1, he says, I charge thee therefore before God and for the Lord Jesus
Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing
in His kingdom. He's going to appear again. And when He does,
He's going to judge the quick and the dead. And He's going
to judge them according to Acts chapter 17 in righteousness. That's how He will judge men.
His appearing is the believer's hope. His appearing. We look for that. We look for
that day. I can't tell you how many times
I've sat with Wayne down there and we talk and talk and he says,
I'm just waiting for that, waiting for that shout. I'm waiting for
that last trump to sound. He's looking. What's he looking
for? The appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's looking for
that appearing. Paul said in Titus chapter two
in verse 13, he says, looking for that blessed hope and the
glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior. Jesus Christ,
looking for that blessed hope. I don't know a great deal about
eschatology. I expect in the 40 some years
that I've been preaching the gospel, I've held every view
there is to hold on. At one time I was a premillennial
pre-tribulation rapture, then I was a premillennial mid-tribulation
rapture, then I was a pre-tribulation, a post-tribulation rapture, and
then I was a no-tribulation guy, then I was a Ah, millennialist,
then I was a post-millennialist, and now I'm a gospel millennialist.
I've been all those things, and people ask me, what do you believe
about the end times? This is what I believe. He's
coming, and I'm looking. I'm looking for Him to come again. I don't care about events, but
He said that these things shall not come by observance. He said
that to His disciples. They said, how do we know it's
the last days? Give us a sign. He said, these things do not
come by observance. So you can look around you all
you want to and you can read what you want to in the history
of the world and the newspapers and the magazines and you can
have shows on the radio and make a whole lot of money telling
people what's happening and when it's gonna happen and this is
a sure sign. I know that fella that run Grace
Radio for years, he predicted several times the Lord was gonna
come back again. I remember last time he was,
I think it was night, no, no, maybe in 2000 something. And
I remember Don Fortner heard him say that and he says, he
set a date of January 16, 2005. He said, you can be sure that's
not when the Lord's coming. You can be sure that if somebody
sets a date, but this we know. He's coming again. He's coming
again. He's gonna split the heavens
wide open. He's gonna call his people to himself. You say, is
it imminent? It's been imminent since he left.
When you read the epistles to the church, the inspired word
of God, every time he talks about the coming of the Lord, it's
never out yonder. It's right now. It could happen any moment. In the twinkling of an eye. In
the twinkling of an eye. The whole book of Revelation
sets forth that fact. When John saw him, he didn't
say, behold, he's going to come. He didn't say he's going to come.
He said, Behold, He cometh. He's on His way. That's what
He saw in that vision, the Lord coming again. He didn't see the
Lord setting a date out there that He would. He said, He's
coming again. He loved His appearing. And every child of God does.
It's the believer's blessed hope. The blessed hope of His appearing
is what it's called. And His appearing is the believer's
final glorification. We don't know what we're going
to be. john said we'll be like him when he appears and we'll
know him when he appears cause we will be like him in hebrews
chapter nine again in verse twenty eight it says this so christ was once offered to
bear the sins of many and unto them that look for him shall
he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. This is our final glorification.
Paul wrote to the church at Colossae, he said this, He said in verse
chapter three, since you be risen with Christ, seek those things
which are above where Christ sitteth at the right hand of
God. Set your affection on things above and not on things there.
For you're dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. When
Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall we also appear
with Him in glory. and i just quoted a little bit
of first john he said verse chapter three behold what manner of love
is this indeed considering what we are what manner of love is
this that the father has bestowed upon us that we should be called
the sons of god therefore the world knoweth us not because
it knew him not beloved now are we the sons of god and it doth
not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall
appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is his
appearing is the believers final glorification no wonder we love
his appearing no wonder if we look for him and rejoice in the
fact that he's coming we rejoice in the fact that he came and
he died we rejoice in the fact that he's coming again to finish
this whole thing I think it was David who wrote the 90th Psalm. And I'll finish with this. Verse 16. This is the prayer
of David. Let thy work appear. Let thy
work appear unto thy servants and thy glory unto their children. The glory of God, the God of
glory hath appeared unto Abraham. Father bless us to understanding
we pray in Christ's name. Amen.