May I please Almighty God to
bless us together this evening as we meditate in His Holy Word. Let's turn to the Gospel of Matthew,
reading chapter 24 and verse 35. The Gospel of Matthew, chapter
24 and reading the 35th verse. Heaven and earth shall pass away. but my words shall not pass away. It is a wonderful blessing for
us today to have the Word of God, to have it in our own language,
to have the ability to read it, It's a great and wonderful favour
and a great and wonderful privilege. And to realise that every word
in the Bible is true, all those things which are prophesied will
come to pass, those things that were prophesied and have come
to pass, is a very clear evidence for us that God's Word is true
And therefore we're privileged to read it and to read what the
Lord has given us to read, to remember the relevance and the
importance of it. We live in an age, a dark age,
when for the most part people live for time. it would be a
blessing if you and I are living for eternity and if we are living
for eternity it means that we will be concerned to have the
evidence that it is well with our soul We won't be satisfied
of just turning up for worship on a Sunday or perhaps other
occasions, but we will be concerned to know that God has called us
out of the nature of darkness into the glorious light of the
everlasting gospel. and that the words that he spoke
so wonderfully recorded in the 14th of John I go to prepare
a place for you and if I go to prepare a place for you I will
come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there
ye may be also these of course are the vital things the important
things Because here we have this great statement, heaven and earth
shall pass away. Everything we know will one day
pass away. It will not remain forever. We
should be quite clear about that. God has given us these things
to realise that there will be an end and as we read on in this
chapter together we're told but of that day and hour knoweth
no man, not the angels in heaven but my Father only and then he
tells us how suddenly it's going to occur and he gives us the
example of Noah And he says, but as the days of Noah were,
so should also the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in
the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered
into the flood and knew not until the flood came and took them
all away. So shall also the coming of the
Son of Man be. So we recognise that the day
will come and people will be going about their lives in just
the same way and have no concern for their eternal soul, no concern
what the future holds for them in a spiritual sense but they'll
be wholly taken up with the poor things of time and what a blessing
it is therefore that we have before us the Word of God which
warns us about the situation and how it will come and how
solemnly it will come and then he tells us about the people
who are on the earth. And he says, then shall two be
in the field, and one shall be taken, and the other left. Two
women shall be grinding at the mill, and one shall be taken,
and the other left. The sovereignty of Almighty God. And if that was to come tonight,
I wonder whether we would be ready whether we would be amongst
those who call on the rocks to cover them, or whether it would
be a most joyous occasion to see the Lord come in the clouds
with all the holy angels and that heavenly throng and we'd
be taken up to meet him in the air. And as we're told, Thus
shall we be forever with the Lord. Freed from all the poor
things of time, freed from sin, freed from sorrow, and enter
into that eternal happiness which is to be enjoyed by the Church
of God. Won't it all be wonderful if
you and I therefore have a good hope that it is well with our
soul? The devil will almost pretend
it's not very urgent. In any event, you can put these
things off to perhaps you're a bit older and a bit more convenient.
Well, we know not when that day will come. That's why the Lord
goes on to tell us Watch therefore. Watch therefore. We are to be
watching day and night, for ye know not what hour your Lord
doth come. But know this, that 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. But we don't know. when the Lord's
coming. But we do know he will come. We do know, as it's spoken of
many times, the Lord will come when the Lord ascended to his
Father from this earth. Over 2,000 years ago, or so 2,000
years ago, we know that the angels said to the disciples the Lord would
return in like manner. He will come again and every
eye shall see him. And so he goes on to say, therefore
be ye also ready. That's a very personal word to
you and to me. And none are outside of that
word. Be ye therefore also ready. For in such an hour as ye think
not, the Son of Man cometh. And the scriptures do indicate
that there will be a time of great difficulty prior to that.
And then perhaps, just almost momentary, a time of peace. People think then that everything
is safe, they can carry on doing what they want to do. not realising
that the Lord has solemnly told us to be ready. Would it be a wonderful favour
if we are found ready? And the Word of God tells us
so many times that His Word is true. What a blessing it is when
you and I can recognise that it is so. He's given us His Word. and we should never underestimate
and I hope you don't underestimate the wonderful privilege that
it is that we have today the Bible in our own language which
speaks to us and tells us everything that we need to know about our
natural life and also everything that you and I need to know about
our spiritual life. Now the solemn truth is that
you and I are without excuse. We will never be able to stand
before that judgment seat and say, well of course, I never
knew. I was never told. Because all of us have been told
about these things. And we've had the privilege of
being able to read about these things. So we won't be able to
claim ignorance before that judgment seat of Christ. We may be, we
may try and claim it, but there will be no excuse. So what a
great blessing therefore, while we are on the earth, while we're
on praying ground, while we're still amongst those who are alive
on the earth, The Lord will come to us in our own hearts and speak
to us and confirm to us that although we are a guilty, undone,
ruined sinner, there's hope, there's mercy for the very worst
of sinners. Yes, there can be mercy. And what a blessing it is if
God brings us to that condition where we're found praying for
mercy. Mercy is welcome news indeed
for those who guilty stand. And you must answer before God
as to whether you feel guilty or not. I don't know. person next to
you doesn't know. You know and God knows whether
the Holy Spirit of God has convinced you that you are before a holy
God a sinner and that you deserve eternal punishment. You won't
stand and think well I haven't done too badly I think it'll
be all right. You'll have to come to that position. The hymn writer says, nothing
in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling. Our hope will only be in the
finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, which he completed on
that cross at Calvary. Oh, what good news. What joyful news it is to have
the evidence that the Lord Jesus Christ none less came into this
sinful world to deliver us from the wrath to come. To pay that
price which was due to us to atone for our sins which we were
utterly unable to do. No, we were unable, we had no
ability, we didn't have the right currency to atone for our sins,
to pay the price required by the holy law of God. But how
thankful we should be to realize the blessed Son of God, the second
person in the Trinity, so willing to come into this world to do
his father's will. Remember those glorious words,
for God so loved the world he sent his only begotten son that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life. Well, what a blessing that is,
if tonight we can come and stand before God and are able to confess
by His grace, by His mercy, that we have sought for mercy, that
we realised our unworthiness and to have the evidence that
the glorious Son of God came down and died that sin-atoning
death upon the cross at Calvary. You see, in that case, Calvary
won't just be an historical picture. It'll come and bring to us reality
because we will see by faith that there the Son of God gave
His life gave his life, the price required to pay the punishment
for our sin. God himself paid the price. It's amazing, isn't it? And it's
wonderful. So as we come and realize this
great truth, heaven and earth shall pass away. Yes, it will. But my words shall not pass away. to have the wonderful evidence
then that the Lord Jesus Christ has promised. He's promised to
come. He's promised to hear the prayers
of his people. He's promised to answer them.
What a wonderful word it is. You know, the Lord tells us in
the Psalms that his covenant will he not break. God is faithful,
you and I fail so often don't we, with such a failure really
in our lives, but to thank God that he is kind and gracious
and merciful and to realise that there is therefore before the
Church of God the wonderful prospect of Eternal happiness in glory. You know the Apostle John, when
he wrote the revelation, and it is a revelation, that's why
it's called a revelation, because it speaks to us And he tells
us in this revelation, the 21st chapter, and I saw a new heaven
and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth were
passed away and there was no more sea. Very different, isn't
it, to the earth we have now. And I, John, saw the holy city,
new Jerusalem, coming down from God, out of heaven, prepared
as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out
of heaven, saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people,
and God himself shall be with them and be their God, and God
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. And there shall be
no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there
be any more pain, for the former things are passed away." Former
things are passed away. Yes, all things will become new. It's a very important and wonderful
truth to realise these things and to know, therefore, that
what God has said will indeed come to pass. We're thankful
that we have the book of Isaiah. It's a wonderful book of prophecy,
a wonderful book of great and glorious truth. which should
be very thankful forth. And he tells us in the 51st of
Isaiah, that glorious chapter which starts, Ho, everyone that
thirsteth, and if you and I are a true believer, we will be amongst
those who thirst after living waters. And he tells and says
in verse 11, So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my
mouth, It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish
that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereinto
I sent it. As God comes and speaks to our
hearts, speaks to our souls, we will have the wonderful evidence
that it emanates from Almighty God. It's not something that
we've dreamt up ourselves, no. It is coming from Almighty God. And there's another verse of
really great interest in the 61st chapter of Isaiah. In verse 17, this is what we
read. For behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered, nor
come into mind. It's an interesting verse, isn't
it? Indicates to us that all the things that we are familiar
with will be forgotten. They won't come into our mind
even. And yet, you see, what a blessing it will be to be in
glory in the new heavens and the new earth. Well, this is
the word of God. It's not my words, of course.
It's the word of God. and the former shall not be remembered. Not be remembered. We'll be so
taken up with glory. The word tells us, I hath not
seen nor ear heard the things that God has prepared for those
that love him. We're not given very much view
of glory, but we do know it will be a perfect place. A perfect place which will totally
occupy Our hearts and minds. What a wonderful exchange from
this poor sinful world. Nothing to perplex us. Nothing to make us sad. And here again, nothing to remember. You put yourself in this position.
If we were able to remember the things on this earth, The things
that we did, the things that we thought. It'd be a pretty
sad time, wouldn't it? A pretty sad situation. But the
Lord said he makes all things new. It'd be a glorious place. What a wonderful favour it is
then. The Lord has given us these words to strengthen us and to
encourage us to realise that we have before us this wonderful
prospect of eternal life. Again, it's something that you
and I can't really understand, can we? Eternal life is really
beyond our natural understanding, but the Lord has promised it
and told us that it is there. And you know, in the little book
to Titus, the apostle Paul tells us He says, Paul, a servant of
God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, this is the first chapter
of the first verse, according to the faith of God's elect.
What a mercy, God's given you and me faith to believe the great
truths of the word of God. And the acknowledging of the
truth, which is after godliness, in hope of eternal life, which
God that cannot lie, promised before the world began. Well you see we have these sure
and certain words to encourage the Church of God as we journey
on through time and realise how wonderfully compassionate our
God is, how very wonderful it is to have such a God who doesn't
deal with us as our sins deserve. And these things are confirmed
to us in the Word of God. They're confirmed to us by the
Apostles. They're confirmed to us in a
wonderful illustration by the Apostle Peter who had reason
to praise for his grace and goodness and he tells us as we come down
to the end of the first chapter in the first epistle of Peter
he tells us this but you are familiar with these
words but with the... sorry let me start with the previous
verse 18 for as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with
corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation
received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious
blood of Christ as of a lamb, without blemish and without spot.
It's the only way you and I are redeemed. It's through the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, who verily was foreordained before
the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last
times for you who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from
the dead and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might
be in God. Our faith and our hopes, not
in ourselves, is not in our ability, is that which God has given to
us. Seeing ye have purified your
souls, in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love
of the brethren. See that ye love one another
with a pure heart, fervently being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever. You see, these are incorruptible
things we have at the moment, a corruptible body there will
be this great blessing of this incorruptible seed and then he
tells us for all flesh is as grass and all the glory of man
as the flower of grass the grass withereth and the flower thereof
falleth away but the word of the Lord endureth forever and
this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. My friends tonight, praise God
for his word. Praise God for his promises. Praise God if he's come to you
and me and quickened us, made us spiritually alive so that
the word of God is true in our case. And you hath he quickened
who were dead in trespasses and in sinners. We've all been there.
We've all been dead. We may still be there. What a
blessing if we have the evidence that we're not. What a blessed
favour if we have the evidence that God has made us spiritually
alive. And if we're spiritually alive,
we will realise our lost and ruined state. We realise our
hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. What a mercy to have a God who
is kind and gracious and doesn't deal with us as our sins deserve. You know, it's good sometimes
to just ponder these things and realise before a holy God what
an unworthy sinner we are. We don't deserve any notice and
yet God in his wonderful favour has loved us with everlasting
love and with loving kindness has drawn us. It's good sometimes
to just sit down and consider the life of God in our soul. Consider how it began. Trace it out. What does it show? God's love. What does it show? God's mercy. What does it show? God's grace. Doesn't that give
us great reason to praise and to thank our God? Because we're
told here, heaven and earth shall pass away. That's gonna happen,
no doubt about it. But my words, shall not pass
away. And that means the words that
God applies to our souls. The words that you and I hope
in as receiving that gift from almighty God. Receiving that
heavenly call. That call which has come and
made us spiritually alive. Oh, what a day. If you and I
can look back in our life to a time when God touched our hearts. Perhaps at that time, all things
became new. We were a new creature. We were,
by the grace of God. We'd entered in to that new spiritual
life. And our whole attitude changed. Our outlook changed. Whereas
we were only living for the things of time, now by his grace we're
living for the things of eternity. We're looking forward to our
eternal home. What a blessing, my friends,
if you and I tonight are looking forward to our eternal home. Many people today would think,
well, you're a pretty morbid character. You're here on this
earth, enjoy everything that this earth has. Well, we're told
to enjoy the things that God has given to us, but we are to
recognize that this is not our rest, as the prophet Micah tells
us. It is polluted. It's a sinful
place. And it's a place which turns
us away from the great things of God. What a mercy, therefore,
if the Lord comes and looks upon us and we realize the wonderful
blessing of this truth, my words shall not pass away. Because
if God has spoken to our soul, it's something that you and I
can rest upon because it's His work, it's His Word, it's His
favour to an unworthy sinner and surely it gives us confidence
to believe that He who has helped us hitherto will help us all
our journey through. And so it's good to be able to
look back in our lives and to observe the help that we have
received from God. Perhaps the help to stand firm
for the truth in a difficult world. The help of God to acknowledge
whom we are and whom we serve. The grace of God given to us
to acknowledge we serve the ever-living and true God and that we're not
ashamed of the gospel of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. We don't want the Saviour to
be ashamed of us, do we? When we come to stand before
that judgment seat, to hear those words, I never knew you, depart
from me. But to hear those glorious words,
come in, thou blessed of my Father, wherefore standest thou without? You and I won't be able to claim
any righteousness ourselves. But we will be able to lay hold
of the righteousness which Christ has wrought out for us and given
to us so gloriously freely. It's a wonderful consideration
to think that God gives us his righteousness, it's imputed to
us, and he takes to himself Our sin, our sin, which is imputed
to Him. What an unequal exchange. What do we see? We see the mercy
of God. What do we see? Loved with an
everlasting God, love. What do we see? His abounding
grace. The wonderful evidences of divine
life in our soul. The wonderful evidences that
we are within that covenant, that covenant of grace, ordered
in all things and sure. Because God's covenant will not
fail. His promises will not fail. or may such words be a great
blessing to us and a great strength to us and an encouragement to
us let us always be aware of those great words for here we
have no continuing city it's true it's a blessing when we
realize it and be able to press on and say but we seek one to
come. And that's not anything that
you and I have worked out ourselves or produced ourselves. It's because
of God's love toward us and his mercy. And it's very humiliating
to think that Almighty God should have loved such an unworthy sinner. You and I would never feel we're
worthy any notice and therefore surely he gives us great cause
and reason to praise and honor and glorify his great and holy
name. You know the psalmist tells us,
praise waiteth for thee in Zion and to thee shall the vow be
performed. I know not Maybe one here who
has made a vow to God. Well, if we have a vow, we are
to perform that vow. We are to honour our God. So
let us remember the wonderful favour if God has heard your
desire and answered that vow and come to you and set your
feet upon a rock and establish your goings, and put a new song
in your heart, even praise to your God. What a change, what
a favor, what a blessing. Rejoice in what God has done. Praise Him for it. How needful
it is for us today to praise God and to realize that we are
passing through time, and to realise that yes, soon heaven
and earth shall pass away, but the Word of God remains. There's our point of rest. There's
our confidence to be able to quote God's Word to him as we
come to him in prayer. and be able to say, humbly so
and yet honestly and truthfully, Thou hast said. Yes, the Word
of God speaks and we can plead to God His promises and desire
to have those promises confirmed in our own heart with a realisation
that those confirmations come from Almighty God, to realise
therefore that it is well with our soul. My friends, you and
I need to know that it's well with our soul. Very simply, because
we don't know what an hour or a day may bring forth. We need
to be ready when that call by God will come to take us from
this earth, to know that we are amongst those who he has loved
with everlasting love, those who he came into this earth to
die for, that sin-atoning death, that agonising death, because
he loved us so much. It's really so amazing, isn't
it? And it's food for pondering. to consider this great mercy
and favour. Well, we've got great truths
here tonight. They're so important, so necessary
to realise. Yes, heaven and earth shall pass
away, and we don't know when, but I want to be found ready
when the Lord comes to be looking for him. And not to be the saddest
day in our life, but to be the most blessed day in our life. The day when we should go from
time to glory and there forever and ever. Amen.