May it please Almighty God to
bless us together this morning as we meditate in His Holy Word.
Let's turn to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 21, and reading verse
28. So the Gospel of Luke, chapter
21, and reading verse 28. And when these things begin to
come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads, for your
redemption draweth nigh. We read very clearly in the Word
of God, especially in the Gospels, Matthew Mark and Luke about those
things which will come upon the earth It's a very clear description
that there will be an end to this earth and all things which
are on the earth will be burnt up and The Word of God tells
us and warns us of this situation and we today are are to recognize
that these words are written for our instruction. And as we read together that
chapter in Matthew, which really was a very full and very complete
word about those things which will come, and it was headed,
signs of the coming of the Son of Man. Well, they were true
2,000 years ago. And obviously that's still true
today. And although the Lord Jesus clearly
warned the people on the earth at that time, so through all
these years that has been a warning to the Church of God and to the
world at large. to realize that things as they
are will not continue forever and there will be a day when
that trumpet shall sound and time will be no more. It's a very solemn consideration
and the great issue of course is to know that you and I right
for eternity and it's a good thing if the Holy Spirit has
convinced us of our condition and of our situation before a
holy God to show that we're not perhaps as good as we might think
and to show that we're indeed far from good. In fact, we're
just like the saints of God listed in the Word of God, who were
indeed sinners. And like the Apostle Paul says,
he tells us he was the greatest sinner. And it's a great blessing
when the Holy Spirit comes and convinces us that we are a sinner. And not only that, but also that
we need a Saviour. And not only that, but then to
be directed to the wonderful blessing that the Saviour, the
Lord Jesus Christ, brings. And through that great and glorious
work that He carried out when He was upon the earth. Well,
there are these solemn warnings for us and it's good to recognise
them and to consider them. By nature, perhaps, we think
we'll carry on forever as it is. Another day will take place,
and it will be like yesterday. Well, so far, but there will
be a time, as I said, when time shall be no more. Now, that will
be an awful day. to those who do not know the
Lord Jesus as their Saviour. It'll be an awful day, because
that day will bring to them that situation of eternity in hell,
which indeed will be a most terrible, terrible scene. I mean, we just
touched upon it in that end of that chapter in Matthew. that
we read together, and as we think of that, it's too terrible really
to consider, but the words that we read at the end of that 24th
chapter was, And the Lord of that servant shall come in a
day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not
aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion,
with the hypocrites there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth
and the truth is of course that that's not a situation which
just comes and goes we just have to endure for a short time it
is an eternal destiny and how terrible it is then to be found
in that place of weeping and gnashing of teeth and utter and
outer darkness. Well, my friends, may you and
I not be found there. May we be found on the other
side. And the other side is described
really here in this 28th verse. And we're told, look up and lift
up your heads for your redemption draweth nigh. What a great blessing
that would be for you and me. To know that it will be well
with our souls. And that we won't be damned forever.
But we shall be in that place of eternal happiness and eternal
bliss with the Saviour. Forever and ever. Not because
we deserved it. We should never be able to claim
that we merited such a tremendous blessing and such a wonderful
favour. But we shall have to come and
stand on that ground where we acknowledge it is all of grace. It is all of God's sovereign
grace to such unworthy sinners, to be blessed with spiritual
life, to be blessed indeed with that union with the Saviour,
the Lord Jesus Christ. What a wonderful blessing it
is. We touched on it, didn't we,
in that last hymn we sang together, which directs us indeed to the
importance and wonder of the Saviour. And so the hymn writer
tells us, top lady tells us, compared with Christ, in all
besides. That's a comprehensive statement.
Compared with Christ in all besides. No cum in SIC. Really no beauty
anywhere else. The one thing needful, dearest
Lord, is to be one with Thee. Now that would be a great blessing.
if the Holy Spirit directs us into that great need. So that
we're able to come down with Top Lady and recognise, as she
says, loved of my God. For Him again, with love intense,
I'd burn. Chosen of Thee, ere time began,
I choose Thee in return. That's put very succinctly in
those few lines, and yet how relevant it is to recognise that
we were, if we are, the people of God, the chosen of God, we're
chosen ere time began, before the world was created, God chose
a people. And it's exceedingly humbling
to realise that Almighty God the Creator of all things, before
time, chose a people, and to think that you and I were amongst
that number. And again, to be able to realise
that we're utterly unworthy of any notice. God should have passed
us by as someone of no value, and yet because He loved us,
with that great and wonderful love, which was, before time
began, the Himalayan says, with love intense, I'd burn. That's a very great statement,
isn't it? And it would be good if you and
I understand what that means. That we desire, that we might
have, in return, intense love for the Savior. The Lord knows
whether this morning you and I do love the Savior or not. It's a great question, isn't
it? Do I love the Lord or no? How important it is. But what a blessing if the Holy
Spirit has come What a wonderful blessing and touched our hearts
and directed us to this great and wonderful plan of salvation
to show us that the Lord has loved us and in return we choose
to love God. Not because we would do so naturally
but it's because of his love toward us. Well it says the Lord
in this word before us this morning when these things come to pass
when the sign of the times come to pass and my friends today
if we look around and if we read in the Word of God and there's
many portions in God's Word which directs us to that which is warning
us about the end of all things and there are many signs of the
times today as we look around in a physical way. We see storms,
we see earthquakes, we see hurricanes, we see famines, we see men turning
away from God, we see men worshipping false gods. All those things,
my friends, are set before us as signs of the times. Signs. that the end of time is getting
closer and closer. It was forecast, as I've said,
2,000 years ago by the Saviour. It hasn't come to pass yet. But
it's obvious to realise that it's getting closer, closer. And my friends, you and I may
be on the earth when the Lord returns. It is great glory. You know, we're warned, aren't
we, that those who know not the Lord will cry to the rocks to
cover them because they'll realise the terrible situation of facing
Almighty God. But they won't be able to escape
and they will have to stand before that judgment seat of the glorious
Saviour. So as we're warned about these
things, may we be concerned that we also are ready. We're ready
when that time shall come, when that trumpet shall sound, and
time shall be no more. And that will be final. There
won't be any extension. There won't be any room for manoeuvre.
It will be a great and firm and solemn situation that time will
be no more. What a blessing then if, as it
describes us here, 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 filing them for fear, and for looking after those
things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven
shall be shaken. All those things are to come. And then we're told, and then
shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power
and great glory. Now to our minds, we're not able
to understand how that will really be observed and how that will
be seen. Because to our minds of course we know the world is
round and there will be some on this side of the world and
some on that side of the world and yet every eye shall see the
Saviour, the Son of God coming in His glory. with all his holy
angels with him. And what a blessing it will be
then if you and I come in with these and when these things begin
to come to pass then look up and lift up your heads. We won't
have to look down, we'll be able to look up not because of what
we've done, not because we're good in ourselves, but because
we have that good and firm hope that the Blessed Saviour has
indeed paid the price to take away our sins, to know therefore
that we are complete in Him. And it's a great blessing if
the Holy Spirit is therefore shown to us our need of a saviour,
our need of a saviour, and that we fled for refuge to the great
and glorious saviour. We have to stand before God,
don't we? We have to answer before God as to whether we have been
convinced of our position before a holy God, whether we've trembled
before God. I wonder sometimes if you have
trembled before God, fearful of what will come upon you because
of your sins, not able to feel justified, but to realize you
need the power of God to rest upon you and to have that glorious
revelation that it is indeed well with our souls. It's so easy, isn't it? to just
carry on in this vain world. And my friends, just remember,
the devil wants you and me to ignore the truth of God's word. He wants us to just carry on
in a vain way and just vaguely hoping that somehow things will
be all right at the end. But my friends, the truth is
that you and I need a personal knowledge of Christ as our Saviour. We need that God-given faith
to believe and what peace that brings to our heart when God
comes. and gives us that faith to believe,
to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, to believe that it is
indeed well with our souls. What a great and wonderful blessing
it is. What a mercy to have such a Saviour. 15th chapter of Corinthians directs
us doesn't it to these truths that will come upon the world
and how wonderful it is therefore if you and I are ready when that
time comes and the Savior tells us through the Apostle he says
but now is Christ risen from the dead and become the firstfruits
of them that slept For since by man came death, by man came
also the resurrection of the dead. And that speaks to us,
of course, of Adam, who sinned, and death came upon him and came
upon all mankind. But the great blessing is, and
then also, as in Adam all die, even so in Christ. shall all
be made alive. With every man in his own order,
Christ the firstfruits, the first one that rose from the dead. Afterward, they that are Christ's
at his coming. When Christ comes again, then
all those who are his for whom he's died will rise first. to
be forever with the Lord. Then cometh the end when he should
have delivered up the kingdom of God, even the Father, when
he should have put down all rule and all authority and power,
for he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be
destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under
his feet. But when he saith all things
are put under him, it is manifest that he is accepted, which did
put all things under him. Well, my friends, how necessary
for us today to know that we are in Christ. And that Christ
indeed has died for us, has paid the price to take away all our
sins. And to realise that we have this
great and wonderful Saviour, you know, in the ninth chapter
of Hebrews, which is a very glorious, wonderful chapter to instruct
us. We're told, But Christ, being
come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more
perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not
of this building, but neither by the blood of goats and calves,
but by his own blood, he entered in once, into the holy place,
having obtained eternal redemption for us. That means that you and
I, by the grace of God, have had all our sins taken away. That means we've been redeemed. The price has been paid. Christ
has paid the price. And the requirement To pay that
price was the death of the only begotten Son of God. That was the great plan of salvation. And so the Word of God tells
us, then, for if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes
of an heifer spring to the unclean, sanctify it to the purifying
of the flesh. That was what was set before
Israel of old in the Old Testament. How much more shall the blood
of Christ, the eternal Son of God, who through the eternal
Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge, cleanse our
conscience from dead works to serve the living God? What a
mercy then, if you and I have been brought to that place where
we desire to serve the living God. We've served ourselves. We were born in this world as
sinners. We've served ourselves. What a mercy if God has given
us that grace, the desire to serve him as our great and glorious
master, as our great and glorious king, as that one who is the
Lord of Lords. What a great and wonderful blessing
then to know that he is that one who has paid the price And
for this cause, he is the mediator of the New Testament, that by
means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were
under the First Testament, that's the first covenant, the first
law, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal
inheritance. You see, the inheritance of the
saints is not like a natural inheritance. This is an eternal
inheritance. and to think that if you and
I therefore are amongst those for whom Christ died, those who
are redeemed through his great and precious blood, we have an
eternal inheritance. That's why we have these great
and wonderful words. And lift up your heads for your
redemption. Drawers nigh. that time of eternal
blessing. What a great mercy it is to recognize
this great and wonderful truth. Well, my friends, we're grateful
that God in his love has given us these truths to direct us
and to encourage us. And we are able today to think
that you and I have the Bible to read and are able to read
it. And if you just ponder for a
moment, the number of people in the world who have this great
privilege, are very few. Are very few. What a blessing it is then, to
be told, by God, by the blessed Saviour, lift up your heads,
for your redemption draweth nigh. Now to the Church of God, The day of our death is not a
gloomy day. The day of our death is a wonderful
time of deliverance. Deliverance from our sinful state
by nature. A deliverance to be brought into
that place of bliss and holiness. Sometimes it's good just to try
and imagine what it's like in glory. We won't be able to, it's
just too difficult for us to understand, but nonetheless it's
good just to ponder and think that that place in glory which
therefore the Lord speaks of here, lift up your heads for
your redemption draweth nigh. It'd be a place of perfect peace,
a place where there is no sin, a place where there is no evil
thought, no wrong thought, It's wonderful, isn't it? To think
of that. Because our minds on this earth,
corrupted by sin and therefore we think about so many evil things. But in glory, where there is
no sin, there won't be any evil thoughts. Everything will be
pure and we will be taken up with praise to our Saviour. and mix with the whole family
of God. But it's an environment which
is, of course, alien to us. We're not able to really understand
the greatness of that change, which will be known and felt,
and that for eternity. Just think, never ending. such a place of felicity and
perfectness in heaven. So it's good, isn't it? These
words are so true. When these things, that's the
beginning of the end of time, things which obviously we are
in that time now, to look beyond the things, to begin to come
to pass, look up, look up. yes we'll have to leave everything
here below but may it truly be that this world is not our rest
that this world is not our home the reality is that we will be
leaving this earth and we won't be leaving home but we will be
going home going home to that wonderful place of glory. And so we should have some idea
of the comparison. See, perfect peace, whereas on
the other hand, cast in the hill, perfect misery and agony forever
and ever. And both conditions are the same.
They are both eternal. How vital it is then surely for
you and me that we're blessed with that wonderful knowledge
that the Lord Jesus Christ has died for us. And if we have that
evidence, what does it do? It surely makes the Lord Jesus
Christ precious. because it makes him so valuable. No one else, no one else could
ever pay the price required to redeem our souls. And so if we
have that view of the Saviour, what a great blessing to understand
this wonderful truth and in this We didn't read this 21st chapter
because the 24th chapter of Matthew really gives a greater picture
of the situation which would exist prior to the return of
the Saviour. And as we read down that long
list of those signs of the times, surely it is a very solemn and
terrible situation to realise that we are here on this earth
and to think of what Jesus was able to speak so very wonderfully
to his disciples. As we read together The example
that he gives about those who are he says nation shall rise
against nation and kingdom against kingdom and there shall be famines
and pestilences and Earthquakes in divers places. Well, that's
so true today, isn't it? you know, we we've got this to
warn us and these are the beginnings of sorrows and Then shall they
deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you. Well, we
see that, don't we? It's been ever since the days
of the Savior have been those who've been arrested and killed
for the name of Christ. And many shall be offended, and
many false prophets shall arise. But he that shall endure unto
the end, the same shall be saved. Our life is one of endurance. The devil wants to capture you
and me. He wants to bring us into his
fold. That's why temptation comes again
and again. Perhaps we are so sad that our
hearts are so evil. We see the effort of Satan that
turn us out of the way. My friends, we're not to be unaware
of what Satan tries to do. It's a continual warfare while
you and I are on this earth. I believe we have to face this
warfare right down to our last breath because the devil will
never give up. But what a blessing if our hope
is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. And we can tell the devil that
our hope is beyond the things of time. It's looking forward
to that great and glorious time in glory. And so, as we read
together, watch therefore, for you know not what hour your Lord
doth come. But know this, and if the good
man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come,
he would have watched and would not have suffered, his house
to be broken up, and how easy it is for us to stop watching. Therefore be ye also ready, for
in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh. We're
told very clearly People will think it's all peace and quiet. It may come when the world is
relatively peaceful, everybody thinks they're okay, can carry
on what they're doing, and then the Lord will return in all his
glory. Well, it will be a blessed day,
won't it, for the Church of God. And so here the Lord goes on
to say, Therefore be ye ready. Who then is a faithful and wise
servant, whom his Lord hath made ruler over his household, to
give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant when
his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing. Verily I say unto
you, that ye shall make him ruler over all his goods. And if that
evil servant shall say in his heart, My Lord delayeth his coming,
the devil will say that to you and me. You needn't worry, the
end's not yet. He shall begin to smite his fellow
servant, and to eat and drink with the drunken. The Lord of
that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him,
and in an hour that he is not aware of. and shall cut him asunder,
and appoint him his portion. With the hypocrites there shall
be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Well, we have this word before
us this morning, when these things begin to come to pass, and they
have begun to come to pass, and therefore we are directed to
look up, look up, look to the Savior, look to the things in
glory, and lift up our heads. We have a good hope. And that
good hope is based on not what we've done. It's based upon what
the Saviour has done on our behalf. So that by God's grace we are
complete, not in what we've done, but complete in what He's done. He did all that was necessary
to redeem our souls. He gave his life upon that cross
at Calvary. My friends, what a sacrifice
it was. We have before us in the Word
of God that picture of sacrifices which were necessary, but they
were never perfect sacrifices. But the blessed Saviour gave
his life as a perfect sacrifice. to redeem our souls. Well, I hope and trust and pray
that all of us may have our hearts and affections therefore set
upon things above and not on things on the earth. The devil
wants you and me to concentrate on the things of time, to occupy
ourselves 100% on the things of time. but it would be a great blessing
if Almighty God enables us to follow these directions given
by himself to his church. When these things begin to come
to pass, look up and lift up your heads, for your redemption
draweth nigh. Well, to be found indeed looking
unto Jesus. the author and the finisher of
our faith. That's the blessing, isn't it?
The great and glorious God who begins his work of grace in our
hearts won't leave us if that has begun. And what a blessing
if you and I can find that beginning. It will not end. Having begun
the good work, he will complete it in a day of Jesus Christ. We have therefore a wonderful
prospect before us. What a wonderful thing it is
to look forward to an eternity in heaven, to an eternity with
the Lord Jesus Christ, to view him then face to face. It won't be then by faith. It
is on this earth by faith, but then face to face. to see the
Saviour, to praise Him forever and ever for His great salvation
that He's brought to such unworthy sinners. You and I will never
be able to think that we're worthy. That's why we should desire to
praise Him for looking upon us, for loving us with everlasting
love and for that loving kindness which drew us to Him drew us
away from time, drew us to the Saviour. What a blessing that
is. Therefore, to be able to rejoice
this morning in these words of glorious direction, to look up,
and lift up our heads, believing that our redemption draweth nigh. Amen.