Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to our second reading, Ecclesiastes
chapter 12, and reading for our text part of verse five. Ecclesiastes 12 and verse five. The words at the end of that
verse, because man goeth to his long home. because man goeth
to his long home. The whole verse reads, Also when
they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall
be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the
grasshopper shall be a burden, and his eyes shall fail, because
man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about these streets. Our text speaks of the infirmities
of the body, the things that shall be reminders that death
is approaching, that soon we must depart all below, that we
have a long home that we are heading towards. God is very
kind in the word. We have many reminders that he
gives us, some of them are most precious ones, like the rainbow
that he shall not again destroy the world through a flood. And when we look at that rainbow,
he has said that he will look upon it, he will remember his
covenant, and we look upon it, and we remember it. For the church
of God, the ordinances that he has given, baptism, buried with
him in baptism, risen again in newness of life, it is a reminder
of the substance of the gospel in Christ's death and resurrection
and the identity with his people in that. And then the ordinance
of the Lord's Supper, this do ye in remembrance of me, As oft
as ye do this, ye do show forth the Lord's death till he come. And it's a reminder that the
Lord will come again. The New Testament church is to
be looking for that. It's a reminder that the Lord
has died and that it is his precious blood that is our only hope and
our only refuge. The Lord has been pleased to
give those reminders to us. Thinking of the words of our
text, we are all used to having places that have been a home
here below. Our text speaks of a long home. When we look over our lives,
we might think, well, those lives have been fairly long, but in
one sense very short. Some say in the place, the house,
the home that they were born in all their days. Others, they
move around a lot. Can't remember much of the years
that I had here. Four and a half years in England
before we emigrated to Australia. But I do remember two years we
had in a place called Red Hill up until I was seven years of
age. Just two short years there. And
then had 13 years, which I always thought as a child was a long
time at Mornington. A time from seven to the time
then I left home and started work and had my own home. And yet they seem such a long,
long while. Looking back on them, they're
only 13 years, not long at all. And then times that we had in
our Married life, month or two here, six months in a rental
place, 11 months in another rental place, four years in another
home in Australia, and then 23 years over here in the UK in
our own home here in Cranbrook, the longest place that I've ever
lived here below. And yet each of the places, what
short places, How soon gone, the place that I lived on my
own in Australia, bought, had the title for ten years. Others have come there. All the
work I spent on that place, all that that meant as home is not
mine anymore. Other people are there. I shall
never again be moved back there. The place that we had there at
Red Hill, one of our visits to Australia, We went back to it
and drove down that road and they'd only just demolished it.
There was the house as a pile of rubble waiting to be rebuilt
to something else. And what remind us that we have
no abiding place here. The homes that we call here,
we soon pass away, passing from one to another. And the place
that we call home now in years to come, will not be our home. And soon the place that knows
us here shall know us no more forever. We've had our parents,
our loved ones, those that we've shared some of these homes with,
and now they are no longer here. Their mortal remains are in the
grave. and their spirits returned unto
God. But our text speaks of a long
home, a home that shall never change, that shall always be
in one place. And how long? A few years? No. Eternity and never, ever
be changed. A most fearful thing or a most
blessed thing. But that is the reason While
we have the reminders that are given in the context here, it
is because man goeth to his long home. I want to look with the
Lord's help this morning at firstly man's long home. And then secondly, the warnings
that God sometimes gives. And I say sometimes because sometimes
there's not a warning. It's very suddenly that man is
taken away from this earthly scene without warning. But other
times there's many warnings. And then thirdly, the warnings
taken if, We hearken and listen to these warnings. How should
it actually affect our lives? How should we then live? And we find that in the latter
part of this chapter. But firstly, man's long home. And we must say, firstly, before
we look at the home aspect, is the eternal existence of man
himself. It wouldn't be much use if we
were to speak in terms of here below, if someone said to us,
we're giving you a home and you can live in this home for 150
years. So that's very kind of you, but
I'm not going to live for 150 years. And so when we speak of a long
home, it also must imply that man is alive for a long time,
that he stays in that home and that there is an existence. We
also read in Ecclesiastes 3, the difference between a beast
and man. the spirit of the beast that
goeth downward into the earth, and the spirit of man that goeth
upward. When man was created, he, like
the beast, was formed of the ground, but with man there was
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became
a living soul. Man has both a soul and he has
a body and the soul is resident in the body and they are two
distinct things and yet together and that for life the two must
remain and at death the two are sundered apart but it is the
soul of man that makes him as man was made in the image of
God The image of God has several aspects. One aspect was that
he had dominion. A man does have dominion over
the beasts of the earth, the fowls of the air, the fishes
of the sea. Because of the fall, that dominion
is not perfect, but it doesn't take great wisdom to be able
to look at mankind and to think, who has the dominion on this
earth? Is it the lion, the king of the
beasts, or is it man? And man, in all the wisdom and
understanding that he has, has been put, as Adam was into the
Garden of Eden, to keep it and to dress it. And man does have
that ability and wisdom. And so man has been given that
aspect of the image of God, but he has also been given the image
of God because God is eternal. We read in the prayer of Moses,
Psalm 90, that a thousand years in thy sight, but as yesterday
when it is past. And why is that so? Because before
the mountains were brought forth or ever thou hast formed the
earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting thou
art God, the eternal God. Moses says, and the blessing
to the tribes, the eternal God is thy refuge. and underneath
the everlasting arms. Blessed to know that in a gospel
sense. Very beautiful to know it. But
God has made man in that image. So man has a beginning, but he
does not have an end. He is eternal being. that shall never cease to exist. And we are to remember that. We do not cease to exist. There were those in the time
when our Lord was on earth that really questioned the resurrection. And they said to our Lord, who
art thou? We know our forefathers, Abraham,
David, they are all dead, art thou? older than them, but our
Lord had a word to say to them. He reminded them of what God
had said to Moses in the burning bush. And he said, I am God,
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
And then our Lord added this. He said, God is not the God of
the dead, but of the living. And so you're saying that though
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob died and they were buried, yet they
were living. We have a picture of this in
the transfiguration of our Lord upon the mount, where the disciples,
they saw Moses and Elijah talking with our Lord. Those that have
departed this life, they are still alive. Their spirits are
still with the Lord in heaven. Those that have died in Christ,
the soul is still alive. We think of what the Lord said
to the dying thief, whose body was to remain on the cross, his
legs to be broken, he was to die there. When he prayed, Lord,
remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom, our Lord said,
verily, verily I say unto you, today shalt thou be with me in
paradise. Today. His body, he had died,
but his soul still alive and conscious and to be with the
Lord in paradise. When David's young son had died,
the son of Bathsheba, God had said that because it had been
a public sin, the child would die. And David, for seven days,
he humbled himself upon the earth. He prayed that if it might be,
God would turn away that judgment, the child might live. But when
the child died, David was submissive to that. He rose, he washed,
he ate, he said, because he said, and when they said, well, why
have you done this? How is it that while the child
lived, you chastened yourself, humbled, and besought the Lord,
and now while he's dead, you've risen? and one washed and eaten. Why? Explain this. He said, because
while he yet lived, who could tell that the Lord would have
mercy and turn again and spare his life? While there is life,
there was hope. But when that child died, then
the state of that child was unalterable. And so David said, I shall go
to him But he shall not come to me. He shall not return from
the dead and come back unto this world. I can't pray for that
anymore. That will not happen. But I shall
go to him. When I die, when David died,
he would go to that child. That child would be still alive. He had good hope of that child. But the point is that man, man
shall live forever and forever. He has an eternal existence as
the most fearful thing, the most blessed thing, but a most fearful
thing, and something that we find very difficult to really
comprehend. We are used to things beginning
and ending. We're not used to something that
never ends. And you might think it's strange
for me to say this for one that has, I trust, that good hope
of heaven and to be with Christ. But the very thought of eternity,
even the thought of an eternal existence in heaven, is something
that sometimes I find frightening, because it is something that
we cannot grasp. We live in time that is created,
And at the end of this world, time shall be no more, and we
shall be in eternity. And we must remember this, we
measure everything by time. But you can't measure eternity
by time, and you can't measure the existence in heaven by time
means either. And we know that what the Lord
has provided for his people is exceedingly wonderful and blessed,
It hath not entered into the heart of man what God hath prepared
for them that love him. And it shall be with Christ,
as the Apostle Paul says, which is far better. The whole desire
of the people of God is that they might be with their God. Sin has separated from God himself. But in the blessings of the gospel,
It brings nigh, it brings nigh to walk with Him by faith here
and to be with Him. The Apostle says to know even
as we are known in that eternal home. The Lord says of His people
that I go to prepare a place for you And if I go and prepare
a place for you, I'll come again and receive you unto myself,
that where I am, there ye may be also. And his prayer is, Father,
I will that they whom thou hast given me be with me where I am,
that they may behold my glory. The whole appeal and desire of
heaven is to have that separation between God and man taken away. and we be where God is. We enter into that inheritance
with Christ and to enjoy that which he has prepared, which
hasn't even entered into our hearts, but we know the blessedness
and wonder of that. And it's spoken of as a long
home for the people of God, a haven, a place of rest, an eternal habitation. When God formed man of the dust
of the earth, he'd already formed the garden and he put man into
that finished place, a place for him. We have the type of
when the children of Israel went from Egypt into Canaan, the promised
land, that it was said that they would not need to build houses
nor vineyards, that everything was already prepared for them,
they entered into that. And we believe heaven will be
like that, a prepared place for a prepared people. and a blessed
place, and where the Lord is there, and where we shall see
also those who have gone before us. As David said, I shall return
to him. And as the Lord said to the dying
thief, thou shalt be with me. And it is that rejoining with
that cloud of witnesses, an innumerable company, that is the redeemed
of the Lord. And we are told that when we
die, the soul then immediately leaves the body and returns unto
God that gave it. There shall be an immediate then
judgment of that soul to either heaven or hell. Yes, there are
only two places There's no such thing as soul sleep. There's
no such thing as purgatory. There's no such thing as an intermediate
state. There's no such thing as annihilation,
which we cease to exist. There is only two places. There
is either heaven or there is hell. There's either with Christ
or eternally banished from Christ. It is either a place of eternal
bliss and happiness, or eternal judgment and death and banishment,
and eternal fire. Our Lord clearly taught this,
clearly set forth, and we have it in the Gospel according to
Matthew, and chapter 5 especially. There are many passages of the
Word that clearly show and clearly set forth the awaiting, what
is awaiting us. Our Lord speaks of those that
he brought before him and it pictures that last judgment day. And we have in verse 31, when
the Son of Man shall come in his glory and all the holy angels
with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory. And
whereas there is a immediate judging of to heaven or hell
after death yet at the end of the world then there shall be
a general judgment day in which God is seen to be just and right
in sending multitudes to hell in sending countless millions
also to heaven and that he is just in that although all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God those that He brings
to Himself, He has suffered for, He has paid their ransom, He
has endured the wrath of God for them, and it is His will
that as they have believed and received Him here below, that
they be with Him forever and ever. And those who have rejected
Him, those who have sinned and have no no substitute, no redeemer,
that they shall be banished from his presence. They did not want
him here below. They rejected him, they hated
him, they cast him out, and they, even many, have denied that God
ever existed. And the solemn reality at the
end will be most fearful. And so he says here, that when
he shall come, that he shall before him shall be gathered
all nations, and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd
divideth his sheep from the goats. He shall set the sheep on his
right hand, the goats on the left. Then shall the king say
unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my father,
inherit the kingdom, prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. For I was unhungered, and he
gave me meat. I was thirsty, he gave me drink.
I was a stranger, and he took me in. Naked, and he clothed
me. I was sick, and he visited me.
I was in prison, and he came unto me. And the righteous shall
answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee unhungered, and fed
thee, or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger,
or took thee in, or naked and clothed thee? They hadn't been
looking at their works. They hadn't been relying on them.
And it is not by works that we are brought to heaven, but by
the works is proved of the grace of God, and that which has been
received by that soul of trust in Christ and following him. The king shall answer and say
unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done
it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it
unto me. And the Lord then links his brethren,
his people, with himself. If they have persecuted you,
says our Lord, if they have persecuted me, they will persecute you. If they have done these things
in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? He says, of
his people, I've given them thy word, and the world hath hated
them. The difference, when the Lord
blesses a soul, will bring that soul to love God and the people
of God, and will minister to the people of God because they
are the people of God. Not with a sense of desiring
a reward, but because they love them. We have in John's epistles,
we know that we have passed from death unto life because we love
the brethren. He that loveth him that begat,
that is God, loveth also him that is begotten of him, that
is the people of God. If we are to be eternally with
a people, then surely we will love that people here below.
that we won't want to be eternally with the people that we don't
want to have any association with here below. And people that
say unto God, depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of
thy ways, what would heaven be? To be with him all the time and
to be with him in his ways in heaven. God's people are a prepared
people for a prepared place. They desire his presence here.
They desire his people. They desire his ways. They desire
his words. And where that is so, here below,
God will have it that they are with him and with his people
and with his words and his presence in heaven. The two go together.
And then we have those that he says on his left hand, depart
from me, ye cursed, and listen what he says. into everlasting
fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." And never ceasing,
it is everlasting. And all those things that he
said concerning the righteous that they did, he said, these
they did not do it. And when they answered and they
said, Lord, when saw we thee and hungered or thirst of stranger
and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying,
Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the
least of these, ye did it not unto me. And then summed up at
the end of that twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew, And these
shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous
into life eternal. There are the two places And
those of you who want to divide the Word of God up and say, well,
only the words of Christ are those written, read in the Bible.
If you've got a Bible that's written, read, then these words
will be written, read. They were spoken by the Lord. And this is his word of these
two homes, these two eternal homes. Man goeth to his long
home. All of the Word of God, from
Genesis to Revelation, is the Word of God. But here we have
our Lord, and we would not divide but forsake of those who would
disannul parts of the word, and they say, well, our Lord Jesus
Christ is a God of love, and he wouldn't do that, and he wouldn't
allow that. God, our Lord Jesus, is the judge. He shall be on the throne. But what a blessed thing it is
to know this Lord Jesus Christ, and know the judge, here below. You think of how it would be
even in a natural sense if we were brought to be before a court
of this land and we knew the judge. We knew they were just
and kind and we knew them personally and we loved them and they loved
us. And guilty though we were, yet
we would feel that we would have the best hearing that ever could
be. But when we know the Lord, we
know him as our Redeemer, as our Saviour, as the one who has
already known our sins and blotted them out, has already taught
us here the worth of our soul and caused us to seek unto him. It is a long home that we go
to. And the entrance of that, we
think of what is said end of the world, that when the signs
of that come, there shall be those that call upon the rocks
and the hills to hide them from the face of him that sitteth
on the throne. But the Lord says of his people,
when ye see these things come to pass, signs in the sun, the
moon, and the stars, men's hearts failing them for fear, look up,
for your redemption draweth nigh. Look up. for that entrance into
your everlasting home is coming. Always remember what was said
with the late pastor at the church in New Zealand, Carterton, when
the doctor told him that he had inoperable cancer. And he looked
at that doctor and he said, good. He says, I'm going home. And
he had that good hope. And he heard those tidings from
his doctor as good tidings. I think if you read the second
part of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, you'll find that Bunyan pictures
Christiana and the children, those that were with them, they
were waiting on the river. The river sets forth death. And
they were waiting there. And every now and again, there'd
be tidings come from the king that he desired that the individual
was to, in a certain time, appear before him. And as a sign and
a token of that, there were those things that were given. And each
one, either they fell sick of something, or something was given
them to give them to know that. And in the case of that pastor
in New Zealand, his diagnosis of cancer was as if the Lord
would say to him, I desire that you are soon to come with me
and to come and enter to your everlasting home. I want to look
now at the warnings that are given of
that homecoming. Perhaps just before we should
look at that, we do think concerning eternal home, what the promise
of God is. I give unto them eternal life,
they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out
of mine hands. And the whole gift of the gospel
is eternal life as a blessing. And though we are so certainly
assured that there shall be a resurrection of the just and unjust, him that
serveth God and him that serveth not, some to everlasting life,
some to everlasting contempt. Yet the reality of the resurrection,
that eternal home, At first it is just the soul, but afterwards,
after this world is no more, and there's the resurrection
of the dead, just and unjust, that we shall be given the same
body, but a glorified body. And Job knew this. Job knew that
though after his skin, worms destroy this body, Yet in my
flesh shall I see God. We shall be recognizable as ourselves,
and yet it shall be a glorified body with no sin, no corruption,
nothing at all. My uncle that only had one arm,
not long before he died, he said, soon, he said, I shall have my
arm back. And he viewed in the resurrection
he should have a body again, but perfect and without the imperfections. and without the maiming that
he'd had in this life. But what are the reminders then
that are given here in our text? The warnings that God kindly
gives to his dear people. And he's bound up in our bodies. Very interesting how much God
does give our own bodies. We think in Romans 1, those that
say that there is no God, he said they are without excuse
because God is known by the things that he has made and our own
bodies that are fearfully and wonderfully made, are made in
the image of God, are in themselves. would hold man without excuse
that there is a God, because of how fearfully, how wonderfully
we are made. And so in this context here,
because man goeth to his long home, God has kindly given us
in our own bodies those warnings, those warnings that are really
in the infirmities of our bodies, that as we get older, they get
louder and louder. And we think of the first one
that is mentioned here, the keepers of the house, in verse 3, in
the day when the keepers of the house tremble. And there's actually
12 of them. The keepers of the house are
our hands and our arms. You look at an old man, and he'll
often be trembling with his arms. They're used as a strong and
to keep our bodies. They will tremble. We think of
the strong men shall bow themselves in verse three again. You go
along the road and you see, you go near an old people's home,
what do you see? You see a sign and you see on
there there's two people and they're two bent down. And the
picture of the elderly is that they're bowed back. And that
picture is set forth before us here. Then we have in verse three
again, that the grinders cease because they are few. That is
our teeth. They get less of them. And this
was a help to me in a practical way a year or so ago. When the
dentist, he tried to give me a crown, it worked for a little
while, and then it fell out. And then they quoted several
thousand pounds for an implant. I came home and thought, in no
way I can't afford to pay that sort of money for one tooth to
be replaced one tooth. I've already got several gaps.
And then this come to mind. God has always known. and decreed that the grinders
shall cease. We're going to lose our teeth,
but not be dismayed at it. It's a reminder, a reminder that
man goeth to his long home. You do not need to be old to
have these reminders. In fact, sometimes they start
when we're quite young and it might be just like one little
knock But as we get older and as the infirmities get stronger,
it's like more and more knocks because we're getting closer
and closer to that eternal home. And the Lord is very kind. Think
of this, those of you here, those of you listening, that may have
these infirmities that are gradually getting more and more. When you
start to have to have glasses and hearing aids and you are
having these things and they're a reminder, you shall never ever
again be able to see without glasses or never ever hear properly
without hearing aids, but you're going to a long home. And these
things are reminders to you. So you have it then in the It shall rise at the, or the
doors shall be shut in, if we go back to verse three again,
they that look out of the windows be darkened. There's our glasses,
our eyes, not as clear as they once were. The doors shall be
shut in the streets, often the elderly, they're fearful of going
out, they stay at home. The sound of grinding is low.
Often when I visit the old people's homes, you go and you sit with
them when they're having their meals. You think, you're going
to eat that? You've only got a few little things on the plate.
Their appetite's so much less than what it was when they're
in their prime. And you see these signs that
are coming that they don't have the appetite in that way. And afraid of that which is high,
fear shall be in the way. When I was young, And I used
to hear of the older ones having a fall, and there'd be so much
made of it. And I think, well, you know,
I just fall, and I bounce back up. And why is there made such
a thing? But as we get older, and we fall
so heavy, and we so realize that. I realized that when I tried
many years ago now to join in with a sack race, and then fell
flat on my face in this sack race with the children. And whereas
they just bounced up and continued going, I lay still on the ground,
winded. And I realized I wouldn't like
them anymore. And so as we get older, there's
a real fear of falling. And so that's why it says, and
fear's in the way, the almond tree shall flourish. When I first
started my pastorate here, I had jet black hair. I don't anymore. And those are constant reminders
as we have the whorehead. And grasshopper shall become
a burden. Those things that were once so
easy to lift and so easy to do, they're now a real burden. And
not only that, mentally things, things that we could easily cope
with, arranging this, arranging that. The elderly, a lot of things
worry them. Small things will really worry
them. One time when I was visiting one of our Bethesda homes, one
of the DH residents, he put another aspect on this. He says the grasshopper
has become a burden. He said once I was flitting here
and there. He said I was doing this, I was
helping that person, helping that person. He said I was a
grasshopper. But he said now the grasshopper
has become a burden and people are having to look after me.
and to spend their time looking after me. I'd never seen it in
that way before. And that's how he felt it, one
of the dear Lord's people at the end. Mr. Ralph, he was, at
the end of his life. And then we have the desire shall
fail, the desire that we once had of carnal, earthly things. Earth joys grow dim. says the
hymn writer, his glories pass away. And it does. And we're
told here, because man goeth to his long home. All of these
things, all of these reminders, and may we take them as reminders. And then we have a picture of
death. here in verse 6, or ever the
silver cord be loose, that is the joining together of soul
and body. When that is loose, that is death.
Or the golden bowl be broken, that is our head with our brain. Then we have the pitcher broken
at the fountain, that's our heart. And then we have the wheel broken
at the cistern. That is, all of the things in
our body that work together. When someone dies, their organs
begin to fail, and they don't work together, and they all fail.
Verse six is a picture of death, of the whole body being taken
down. Then, in verse seven, shall the
dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return
unto God who gave it. What a clear warning of going
to a long high, what shall happen at death? Dear friends, how are
we prepared? Do we take warning? What effect
does this word have upon us? Does it have any effect? Do we
know ourselves as sinners, a need of a saviour? Do we know our
need of one to bear the wrath of God because of our sin? and
that we should then lift up our head with joy among the sons
of God. The warning is that we profit
from it and are blessed through it. And so I want to, in the
time remaining, just to look, if the warnings are taken, what
effect shall it have? And there's five things here.
First thing is in verse eight. Vanity of vanity saith the preacher,
all is vanity. That is the first thing. Because
if man is going to his long home, may we view this world as it
really is. It's vanity, it's empty. Whatever
we might enjoy of it and have of it, it's but for a time and
then we have the countless times of eternity. What are these vain,
empty things when we lie in a dying bed and we've got this world
behind us and we've got eternity before us? What are these things?
What is it when we've had a house, when we've had a job, when we've
had all of the things of this life and they cling to us? We've
seen our loved ones, our parents pass away and even on a deathbed
they've been worried about this thing and that thing. I can understand
it, the things that still need attending to and what we've been
used to attending to all our day long, the paying of workers'
wages or things like that. And they cleave to us. But how
many the things of this life, they keep them from considering
their soul, considering eternity or seeking those things which
are above. But when vanity is stamped upon
it, and I bless God that when the Lord began with me is one
of the things, as well as drawing to himself, was stamping vanity
upon this earth. Yes, we still see it and love
God's creation and would walk rightly here below, but may we
see the emptiness of it and the vanity of it. Are those of us here that this
world has got such a proportion upon us that should never have?
It's supposedly got a worth, and yet the Lord says, no, it
is but vain and empty. Earth's joys grow dim, its glories
pass away. No, thou who changest not. So that's the first thing. If this warning is taken, then
to see and lay it to heart, the vanity and emptiness of everything
here below. The second thing is in verse
9 and 10, and that is to seek truth. Pilate said unto our Lord,
what is truth? Our Lord said to those that believed
on him, if ye continue in my word, ye shall be my disciples
indeed. Ye shall know the truth, and
the truth shall make you free. And so we read here, because
the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge.
Yea, he gave good heed and sought out and set in order many proverbs. The preacher sought to set out
acceptable words. And that which was written was
upright, even words of truth. The truth is in Jesus. It's a simple statement set forth
in Ephesians. The truth is in Jesus. Our Lord said, I am the way,
the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. And dear friends, if this truth,
if these warnings and the long home is to be laid to heart,
our desire will be to know the Lord, to know Christ, and to
be taught of Him, and to know the blessings of the Gospel,
to know that the reason why Christ came, reason why He was given
the name of Jesus, was to save His people from their sins, that
he should, on Calvary's tree, make atonement for their sin,
redeem them from death, save them from death, pay the price
that they could not pay, pay a price that only needs paying
once and can't be demanded twice. And he's risen again from the
dead to show his conquest over death. and the satisfaction of
his father with that sacrifice. In his holy, pure, sinless life
upon this earth, he not only proved himself to be the spotless
Lamb of God, but also wove a robe of righteousness to give to his
children, give to his people, to live the life that they could
not live. and to give them that which they
shall then appear in the presence of God, faultless before the
throne, dressed in his righteousness, and not their own. Seek the truth. May that be the
real desire. If these warnings are hearkened
to us, May we be like the Greeks, so as we would see Jesus. May
we be like the eunuch, whom speaketh the prophet this, of himself
or some other man. But seek the truth. Remember
there are many that are in this world that would blacken the
truth, turn you away from the truth. Satan will. Even loved ones that are unbelievers
will. that may your aim, your desire,
may mine be, that I might know the truth, and that truth set
us free, the truth concerning time, eternity, God, and heaven,
and hell, and our souls, and our interest in Christ, and whether
it is that our sins have been put away by him. The third thing is to seek the
one shepherd, We have in verse 11, the words of the wise are
as goads and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies,
which are given from one shepherd. Who is that one shepherd? That
one shepherd is Christ. I am the good shepherd. The Lord's servants are undershepherds,
but the Lord is a shepherd, and we're told here they are words
that are given from him. We are to be brought from those
truths and from the gifts of God to the giver himself, to
the Lord. When the Lord was teaching the
disciples and it was hard sayings, this is a hard saying, who can
hear it? Many went away and walked no
more with him. The Lord said to the disciples,
will ye also go away? They said, to whom can we go?
Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are
sure that Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. However much we might know of
doctrine, of teaching, if it does not lead us to Christ, it
is of no value and worth. The Holy Spirit of God, which
is the teacher and instructor of all of the people of God,
He shall receive of mine the things of Jesus and reveal them
unto you. Wherever the Holy Spirit is,
Christ will be precious. Wherever the Father is working,
he will draw a sinner to Christ. And it will be Christ is to be
the only name given among men, whereby we must be saved, and
is to be a looking unto him, and is a beautiful type here.
Christ is a shepherd. Christ as a shepherd. To be able
to say with David, the Lord is my shepherd. You and me, we will
be blessed souls if we can say the Lord is my shepherd. And at the other end of that
psalm, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days
of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. There is the eternal home at
the other end of that. May we know that blessed, blessed
blessing of the Lord being our shepherd, to shepherd us through
life, to shepherd us into the truth, to shepherd us to that
eternal home. The fourth thing is a warning
in verse 12. And further by these, my son,
be admonished of making many books. There is no end. Much
study is the weariness of the flesh. You would be amazed at
the amount that I've come across of men that have said, oh, we're
seeking this and we're seeking that. And many of them are so
taken up with study. Either they're taken up with
Hebrew and Greek or in studying of this and in studying of that.
And you think true religion is the life of God in the soul.
It's a relationship between my soul and Christ. And yes, it's
a blessed thing to know the truth, but some make their whole religion
as to be studied. And yet we're told here it's
a weariness of the flesh. It's a blessed thing if in the
warnings that are given us of an eternal home hastening on,
We don't get sidetracked with things. You say, how can that
be? You think of how it was with
Martha and Mary. Jesus was in the house. Martha
was cumbered about with much serving. Don't get cumbered about
with much study, and you don't find the Lord. The last thing. is the conclusion of the matter
in verse 13. How are we to live? How are we
to go through life? Let us hear the conclusion of
the whole matter. Fear God and keep his commandments. This is the whole duty of man,
is not in keeping of the commandments that we earn ourselves to heaven.
Heaven is by gift and trust in Christ's work alone, not of works
lest any man should boast. Those that have an interest in
that, they will walk through this life with the fear of the
Lord, the Lord seeing them, and seeking to obey the Lord, keep
his commandments, and walk in that way, that they won't be
ashamed that last day. The Lord bless us with that patient
continuance in well-doing and in the fear of the Lord, and
that where infirmities are, and these warnings are, of man going
to a long home, that we take those warnings. They're blessed
to us and they work for good. May the Lord add his blessing.
Amen.