I please God to bless us together
this evening as we meditate in his word. Let's turn to the book
of the Proverbs and chapter 25 and verse 25. The book of the
Proverbs chapter 25 and reading verse 25. As cold waters to a
thirsty soul So is good news from a far country. It's really quite a simple analogy
that Solomon uses here in these words. And I'm sure we can understand
what he says when he says, as cold waters to a thirsty soul
because when we are naturally thirsty it's wonderful to have
a drink of cold water and it would have been no doubt more
noticeable in the eastern countries where of course the weather is
hotter and of course when this was written they hadn't got taps
as we do now and therefore drinking water was very wonderful and
very needful And so as he says here, as cold waters to a thirsty
soul, how refreshing they would have been, and especially if
people were journeying, it would have given them fresh energy
to pursue on their journey. And so as cold waters to a thirsty
soul is the illustration that we have before us here. And it
relates to that which Solomon then goes on to say, so is good
news from a far country. Well, I'm sure again, those who
perhaps have loved ones living a long way away, and it's good
for us when we get news even from Ghana and Kenya and Pakistan
and India, when we have good news from a far country, it's
always lovely to hear. And so it is a blessing to receive
such messages. So is good news from a far country. But I think, of course, this
must really have reference to the eternal place of glory. Heaven itself, good news from
a far country. And heaven, of course, is a far
country. And as we travel on through life,
it must be encouraging to the Church of God to be able to read
the Word of God and to be encouraged by the Word of God that we may
view such a word as this as good news from a far country. We think back through the Old
Testament days when no doubt the prophecies were written of
that good news which they were looking forward to when a Messiah
would come Messiah which we prophesied for so many years. It was indeed
good news. It was that, no doubt, which
enabled the Church of God in those days to continue exactly
the same as it is today. You know, if there was no heaven,
if there was no good news from a far country, then surely there'd
be no purpose really in our lives. There'd be no encouragement for
us. But we should thank God that
we are encouraged as indeed God's ancient people were encouraged. And especially of course they
were wonderfully encouraged when the Lord Jesus himself came upon
the earth. What good news that was, what
good news it was when first of all the Lord or the angel came
and spoke to Mary Unexpectedly no doubt to her but nonetheless
it was the Word of God and it was a wonderful Statement to
her and we can read in the first chapter in the book of Luke where
the Angel came and we're told Thus the Lord dealt with me in
the days when he looked on me to take away my reproach among
men And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God
unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin, a spouse
to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the
virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her
and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured. The Lord is
with thee. Blessed art thou among women.
And when she saw him, She was troubled at his saying, and cast
in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel
said unto her, fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with
God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth
a son, and shalt call his name Jesus, and he shall be great,
and shall be called the son of the highest. And the Lord God
shall give unto him throne of his father David and he shall
reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there
shall be no end. Well surely this was indeed good
news from a far country and good news it was to Mary at that time
and of course it would be good news to the Church of God. That
which had been prophesied so many years ago was now to come
to pass was now to be fulfilled. And surely as we read such an
account, we should be encouraged today as good news from a far
country because it proves to us the Word of God is true and
therefore we can rely upon it as the Word of God and truly
thank Him for it. And of course that was then followed
on by the time when the angels appeared to the shepherds and
that was a wonderful time when the Savior was born in Bethlehem
and the angels were there were shepherds abiding in the field
keeping watch over their flock by night and lo the angel of
the Lord came upon them and the glory of the Lord shone round
about them and they were sore afraid and the angel said unto
him fear not For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people. For until you is born this day
in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord, and
this shall be a sign unto you, you shall find the babe wrapped
in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there
was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising
God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth,
goodwill toward men. Well, wasn't this good news from
the far country? Good news from heaven? What a
wonderful favour it was that these shepherds were privileged
to receive this salutation. And we know they immediately
went down and found as the angels had spoken and they saw the Lord. What a blessing it was and what
a blessing it is for us today as we look at a word like this,
good news from a far country. That was good news and it is
good news to us today because it emanated of course from heaven
itself. Jesus came down from heaven. He left his He left his place
in glory and he came down willingly into this earth. What a wonderful
providence, what a wonderful favour, what a wonderful blessing. I wonder if we think about it. I know Christmas time we concentrate
on this wonderful occasion, but you know we shouldn't limit our
considerations to just the time of Christmas because Our salvation
depends upon the Saviour. It depended upon the Saviour
coming into this sinful world. And it depends upon all that
He did. So as we read such accounts in
the Word of God, is it not good news from a far country? Well, I'm sure it is. I hope
it is. Anything really that speaks of
the Lord Jesus Christ is good news from a far country. It's good news to the Church
of God. And my friends, it will be good
news to you and me if we are one of God's children. You know,
we'd love to hear the good news of Jesus. We'd love to hear of
what he's done. We'd love to hear of his great
and glorious intercession. It won't be something that we'll
ever get tired of. No, I believe the Church of God
love to hear about their Saviour. What a privilege it is that we
live in a nation where you and I can come and hear the gospel
preached freely, without any fear. And yet there are many
places in the world where this is not so. But the privilege
is ours. And may we today then recognize
the truth of this, so it's good news from a far country. Everything that you and I hear
about the Savior, good news. Of course it was also not just
in the New Testament, these encouraging words, we can also read encouraging
words in the prophecy of Isaiah, and in the prophecy of Isaiah
we can hear about what the Church of God were being favoured to
hear. In the 33rd chapter we read from
verse 13, hear ye that are far off, what I have done, and ye
that are near, acknowledge my might. It's good you know when
the Church of God can recognise that. And sometimes we may fear
and feel to be far off in our hearts, far from God. But you
see, we're not out of his sight. And it's a good thing when he
directs us to the good news from a far country, to realize that
we're not deceived. Although the devil may try and
darken our path, although he may try and turn us away, Realise
this. Here, ye that are far off, what
I have done, what has the Lord done? It's good news from a far
country, is it not? And ye that are near, acknowledge
my might. The sinners in Zion are afraid. Fearfulness hath surprised the
hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with
a devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with
everlasting burnings? He that walketh unrighteously
and speaketh uprightly, he that despiseth the gain of oppressions,
that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his
ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing
evil. That's good instruction, that,
you know, to the Church of God. As it was then, so it is today,
that walketh uprightly, despising the gain of oppressions, shaketh
his hands from holding of bribes, stop our ears from hearing of
blood, and shut our eyes from seeing evil. He shall dwell on
high. His place and defense shall be
the munition of rocks. Bread shall be given him. His
water shall be sure. And then this beautiful word,
thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty. They shall behold
the land that is very far off. Is that not a wonderful promise
to the Church of God as they travel through this wilderness?
It's a word to the whole Church of God that by the grace of God
our eyes, indeed as Job says, his eyes shall behold and our
eyes will behold, shall see the King in his beauty. And so as
we travel through this life, with many things to distress
us, perhaps many things to perplex us, yet to be able to look forward,
to look ahead to this wonderful occasion when we shall at last
arrive home, that home in heaven, that place that the true Church
of God are looking forward to, Those who go to glory will have
some anticipation of it. They won't be a stranger there.
It won't be a strange place to them. It'll be a place of home,
because they will be with the saints of God. And the Saviour
will be in the midst, and their eyes shall see the King and his
beauty. And they shall behold the land
that is very far off at the moment, It seems so to be, but the time
will come when we shall arrive at home. And he tells us, look
upon Zion, the city of our solemnities. By and I shall see Jerusalem,
a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down.
Not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither
shall any of the cords thereof be broken. But there the glorious
Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams wherein
shall go no galley with oars, neither shall any gallant ship
pass thereby." Well, we have just a little glimpse, don't
we, in the Word of God of those things which the Lord has promised
to his people and therefore As we view this verse this evening,
as cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. And this, my friends, must be
good news from a far country. You know, you may remember that
Jacob, naturally, he thought that Joseph was no longer. He'd totally given him up. He thought he'd been eaten by
wild beasts. And you see, eventually when
his sons came and told him everything, and when he saw the wagons coming
back from that far country, he said, Joseph is yet alive. It was good news from quite a
far country. It wasn't just around the corner
and it traveled down into Egypt from Canaan, but it was good
news from a far country. And you see Jacob, was encouraged. He was willing to go down to
see his son before he died. And that's just an illustration
in the scriptures which would encourage us in a word like this. So is good news from a far country. And then perhaps we might think
of Abraham. Abraham lived many years on this
earth, 75 years and yet you see his eyes were looking towards
that country, that country which was to come. And again we can
tell what he thought and his desires are recorded in the epistle
of Paul to the Hebrews for our encouragement and this is what
we're told about Abraham. He's sojourned by faith He sojourned
in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in
tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same
promise. And this is the point, for he looked for a city which
hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. That's what
he was looking forward to, that great and wonderful city. And what a favor for us today
to realize that we today are looking forward to that city. And we're told about this faith
that was given to him. And he said, through faith also
Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed and was delivered
of a child when she was past age because she judged him faithful
who had promised. You see, we today can rely upon
the promises of God that there is a better country, there is
a heavenly country that we are journeying toward us, toward. And so he tells us, therefore
sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, as many
as the stars of the sky multitude, and as the sand which is by the
seashore in Nimru, these all died in faith, not having received
the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded
of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers
and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things
declare plainly that they seek a country. What a mercy it is
if by the grace of God you and I declare plainly that we today
are strangers and pilgrims on the earth. We're looking for
a city. We're pursuing the narrow way
till him we view. And the apostle goes on and says,
and truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they
came out, they might not have had opportunity to return. But now, they desire a better
country. That is unheavenly. Wherefore
God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he hath prepared
for them a city." It's a wonderful thought, isn't it? It's a wonderful
prospect to think that God has gone to prepare for us, indeed,
a city. What a mercy it is to realise
that we do have such a kind and gracious God as cold waters to
A thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. So the Word
of God does contain the good news of the far country. And
so as we journey on through life to be ever looking upward and
ever looking forward to the end of our life, and not with any
morbid views, you see naturally we're earthy, naturally we cling
to the things of time. But it's a wonderful blessing
when God comes and gives us a little taste, a little hope, a little
expectation of that which is reserved for the Church of God,
that place of glory, that place where by His grace we shall come
at last. Yes, so it is good news from
a far country, You know the Apostle Peter, he speaks about this inheritance,
doesn't he? So many people in the Word of
God speak to us about the things which are to come. And the Apostle
Peter in his first epistle and in the first chapter, he tells
us in the early verses when he said, blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. What a good thing when you and
I can come like that and say, yes, blessed be God for that
provision which he's made for me when I finished my course
on this earth. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, to an inheritance, an inheritance incorruptible
and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven
for you." Perhaps we think how wonderful it is to think, and
it's very humbling, isn't it? And it's very amazing to think
that for such unworthy sinners there is a place reserved in
heaven. We won't get to glory and find
there's not a place. The Lord has reserved a place
for us. What a blessing that is. How
comforting it is and how wonderful it is to think that Almighty
God, in His all-glorious plan in eternity past, has determined
that He would reserve a place for every one of His people. And so today, can we rejoice
in this great truth, good news from a far country? It's good
news indeed. to be able to recognize this
great truth, that there is a place reserved in heaven for us. And not only so, as the apostle
goes on, he says, who are kept by the power of God. You and
I can't keep ourselves. Peter couldn't keep himself,
that's why he wrote this. But he knows, he knew, we know,
that we can be kept by the power of God through faith. unto salvation,
ready to be revealed in the last time. And then he goes on to
say, wherein ye greatly rejoice. What a wonderful statement. As
you and I are able to ponder such words, there is a place
reserved in heaven for us. Can we greatly rejoice? Is it the most blessed thing
that could happen to us? Those who receive the gift of
eternal life to have a place reserved in heaven? Surely we
should greatly rejoice to think that Almighty God in His wonderful
mercy, in His great love, His glorious compassion has gone
before. and has reserved a place in glory
wherein ye greatly rejoice. But then we're told just a balancing
truth here. We're on the earth still, though
now for a season, if need be. Sometimes there is a need be. Ye are in heaviness through manifold
temptation. many temptations may flood into
our minds. Sometimes it's needful, needful
to make us pray, needful to lift us up, needful to cause us to
look forward to the time when we shall be out of this world
with no more temptation. In heaviness through manifold
temptations that the trial of your faith being much more precious
than the gold that perishes. Well, we know what gold is, don't
we? It's a very valuable metal, but there's no comparison with
God-given faith. No, God-given faith will stand
every trial and live at last. Although it be tried with fire,
it might be found unto praise and honor and glory and appearing
of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen, ye love. That's amazing, isn't it? The
grace of God, as Christ is revealed to us, as our great Saviour,
the One who is condescended to suffer in our place, to die for
us. Then we have this statement here,
Whom have ye not seen, ye love. It's vital, it's a blessing,
and therefore it's a very clear indication the fulfilment of
this word. So it's good news from a far
country to be found one day with the saviour who has loved us. And we have loved him for what
he's done in redeeming our soul. Of which salvation, receiving
the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. There are no failures with God.
No failures with God. Everyone comes safely home to
glory, the end of our faith, the salvation of our souls, to
be found with Christ, which is indeed far better. It is a great
and glorious mercy unto whom it was revealed that not unto
themselves, but unto us, They did minister the things which
are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel
unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. And he
says, which things the angels desire to look into. It's a mercy, isn't it? A great
blessing. If you and I, therefore, are
favored to be found in the position looking forward. this wonderful
day. Now this wonderful day will come. It may of course come when we're
upon the earth and the Lord returns in all his glory. And that will
be a fearful day for the unbelievers. That'll be a fearful day for
those who do not possess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Because
there will then be time no more There will then be no more salvation,
no more mercy, but the whole situation would have been completed. No more favor, but everything
will come to pass in that great day when the Lord will come and
the Lord will return and the Apostle Paul, he tells us about
it. In the first epistle to the Thessalonians
and the fourth chapter, towards the end of that chapter, he tells
us this. For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, you may say, well, that's very simple.
My friends, it's God-given faith that you and I need to believe
such a great and glorious truth. Simple as it is. Very great truth. For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus
will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the
word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the
coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout. with
the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the
dead in Christ shall rise first. A very terrible day for the unbeliever. A very blessed day for the church
of God. And may it be a day which, by
the grace of God, you and I are looking forward to. Looking forward
to that time, indeed, as the apostle spoke to Titus, the end
of In the second chapter in Titus we're told, teaching us that
denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly,
righteously and godly in this present world, looking for that
blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and
our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Why? Who gave himself for us,
that he might redeem us. from all iniquity, and purify
unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort,
and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise the will Here
we have the encouragement to be looking forward to this blessed
hope and looking forward to this situation. Then we which are
alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with
the Lord. Ever be with the Lord. It's hard
for us to understand, isn't it? when there will be no night,
eternal day, and the light will emanate from the Saviour. It will be a most glorious situation. Beyond our natural comprehension,
I have not seen, we haven't seen nor heard what the Lord has prepared
for those that love Him. And yet, what does the Apostle
say? He says this, Wherefore comfort
one another with these words." These are words to the Church
of God as they travel through this world with all its difficulties
to be encouraged, to look forward to. So is good news from a far
country. And it is to the Church of God,
it's good news because we have an eternity of bliss before us. an eternity of happiness where
there will be no sorrow, no sighing, no tears, no pain, no sin, no
sin, peace forever and ever with the Saviour and with the ransomed
Church of God. It's a wonderful prospect, is
it not? And it's so true as cold waters
to a thirsty soul. We know what that means. So is
good news. a far country. And I suppose
it is really a test of our religion, isn't it? A test whether we are
amongst those who are journeying home to God. In the way the fathers
trod, they are happy now and we soon their happiness shall
see. It then, in that situation, won't
be a difficulty to leave this earth. It may be naturally hard
to leave our loved ones but not to leave the things of time which
are perishing with the using those things which don't give
any true benefit to realize the wonderful favor of this so it
is good news from a far country the time comes and of course
the lord jesus christ when he was on the earth in that beautiful
account when he was in the upper room how encouraging the words
were that he spoke to his disciples, to encourage them. And in the
14th chapter of John, it starts off with these words, let not
your heart be troubled. It's an encouragement, isn't
it, to them? It's an encouragement to us today. Let not your heart
be troubled. Ye believe in God, believe also
in me. In my Father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that
where I am there, ye may be also. The Lord has gone to prepare
a place for his people. You see, The wonderful truth
is that one day, by His grace, the Lord will come, if we are
still on the earth, and return in all His glory. And we're told
of that when the Lord ascended up into glory. A wonderful truth it was because,
and we're told, And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven,
as the Lord went up, behold, two men stood by them in white
apparel, which said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing
up into heaven? This same Jesus, this same Jesus,
no different, this same Jesus, the risen savior, which those
had seen when he rose from the dead, this same Jesus, which
is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in light manner
as ye have seen him go up into heaven. The Lord will return,
there's no doubt about it. And so as you and I travel on
through this world with many things to discourage us, yet
may we be encouraged by such words as this. So is good news
from a far country, and I will see you again, and your heart
shall rejoice." You see, the Lord has given us so many promises
in his word about those things which are to come. And may it
be something that you and I can rest in. We live in a restless
world with so many material things. rushing around. But there will
be an end. There'll be an end to your life,
an end to my life, an end to the world. And then there will
be that wonderful glory. And it's good news to the Church
of God. It's not morbid. It is to the
world. It is to people who want to live
here forever. I remember meeting a person years
ago who said they hated birthdays. They hated birthdays. And they
hated birthdays because they realised every birthday was bringing
them a year nearer to the end of their life. But that shouldn't
be so with the true Church of God. We should realise, in accordance
with the hymn, a day's march nearer home. A day's march nearer
home. Every day is not a day further
from home. today's march nearer home, that
home which by His grace we are travelling towards, to view the
Saviour, that one who we shall then see with our own eyes and
see Him as He is. Yes, what a wonderful prospect
it is. We only can imagine in our little
minds what that will be like. But then we shall see him. Every
eye shall see him. And the church of God will rejoice
in seeing him. Those who are not of the church
of God will fear. They'll tremble because they
stand before that great judge who will condemn them to eternal
hell. But to the church of God, it'll
be, come in, thou blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom
reserved for you. from before the foundation of
the earth. Oh, what a blessed time that
will be. And so, as we journey on, may
we be thankful that there is this good news from a far country. And may we be able to keep it
before our minds, to encourage us that as we journey on, our
life for the longest cannot be long. And that day will come
and we shall then find ourselves at home with the Saviour and
the Church of God. So let us remember this simple
word. As cold waters to a thirsty soul,
so is good news from a far country. Amen.