Okay, well, welcome to those of you who are joining us at the last moment. We're going to need our Bibles tonight, folks, so make them handy. I'll try not to jump back and forth too much between our text and the Scriptures and the handout, but there will be a couple of moments where we'll need to do that. I want to begin, though, with the handout. So, if you look at the first page, page one, and I want to start with the title, There Will the Eagles Be Gathered Together. You'll see how that title goes well with what we're going to be looking at tonight. Now remember last week I talked about how this chapter 24, parts of 23 and the first half of 25 are about the destruction of Israel, about judgment that comes upon the religion of the day, the man's religion. But there are some diamonds in the rough. And one of those diamonds, and I've got to be honest with you, I was talking to Todd Nybert about this, and a man who's been preaching for over 25 years, closer to 30 I think, when he had heard this, he said, well I'll be. I had never seen that, and can't wait to get home and preach about it. And that was last week's subject that we find right here in verse 15 of chapter 24 of Matthew in our text it says when ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation. Now in our last study we considered when ye therefore shall see That's Matthew 24 15, first paragraph, page one. Tonight I wish to visit this section of scripture again, and you may recall that we took into consideration that phrase in remembering a time when we were blind to the truths of God. We could not see how great an abomination the religions of man's imagination were to a thrice holy God. Folks, He will not share His glory with another. There is only one gospel. Run from everything else. Do not carry anything of this world. Do not go back to retrieve your old rags of self-righteousness. Run, not to the mountain of the Law, Mount Sinai, but run to Mount Zion. Run to Christ. Now look with me if you would at our text once again. Matthew 24. verse 15 through 28. When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, whoso readeth let him understand, then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains. Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house, neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes, and woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days. But pray ye that your flight be not in winter, neither on the Sabbath day. For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should be no flesh besaved, but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. If any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before, whatever Wherefore, if they shall say unto you, behold, he is in the desert, go not forth. Behold, he is in the secret chambers, believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together." Back in our handout, if you would. Our focus tonight will be verses 16 and 28. In these verses, all the verses that we just read here, 15 through 28, our Lord is continuing to answer the questions that his disciples asked about the destruction of the temple and his second coming, the end of the world. And I quoted that in our In our handout here, Matthew 24, verse 3, and he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? Though these verses have a specific application to the destruction of both Jerusalem and our Lord's second coming, yet these things were written for our learning. for our admonition as well. The Lord Jesus Christ graciously cares for His own. He tenderly prepares them for trials they must face in this world. And the means by which He does this is through His Word. Lord, teach us the things we should learn from these words of Your Son. Page 2. The first point I want to make here is that the Lord shows us a complete end. Now, when the Lord destroyed Jerusalem, The temple and the nation of Israel, he made a complete end of it, a complete end of the old mosaic legal system of worship. The primary subject of Matthew 24, 15 through 21 is the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD by the Romans. Now the horrors and the miseries that were endured by the Jews in that time of destruction exceeded anything recorded before, anything recorded in the history of the world. Josephus, the Jewish historian, gives a graphic detailed account of the havoc that was inflicted upon the Jewish nation by Titus, not including the ones that perished in the city itself, more than a million Jews were slaughtered. Imagine a hundred thousand carried off into slavery. Some would say that that truly was a time of great tribulation such as was not seen, such as was not since the beginning of the world. Jerusalem and the temple in it were the heart of the Old Testament worship. When that was destroyed, the whole legal system was destroyed with it. It was destroyed because all types and figures had been fulfilled by Christ. The daily sacrifices, the yearly feast, the mercy seat, the Holy of Holies, the priesthood, the altar, the table of showbread were all essential parts of worship during the legal time that they were in. But once Christ came, The legal system ceased to have any function. It was no longer needed. Christ destroyed it forever. Listen to these words from Romans 10-4. Christ is the end of the law. Look over with me, if you would, at Colossians chapter 2. Colossians chapter 2. I'll give you a moment to turn there. We're talking about Christ is the end of the law. Look what it says in Colossians chapter 2, beginning at verse 8. Beware! lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in him. Now I want to stop there for just a moment. There's a group in today's world that's going out and trying to preach a subject, and they were just as prevalent back in the early days of Henry Mahan. even further back than that, all the way back to even places in the Corinthians and so on, where men wanted to teach that we could be better. Once we were saved, we got better as we learned to walk better with Christ. In other words, progressive sanctification. But if you read this again, look at verse 10 again. Ye are complete. That goes right along with Hebrews chapter 10, where the Lord tells us that we are perfected forever in Him, in them that are sanctified by His one offering. It says, and ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power. So if He's the head of everything, if He's got all power, and He says we're complete in Him, we're complete. You can't get any better than that. let's go on verse 11 in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands and putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of christ look at how this is explaining how we are complaining him verse 12 buried with him in baptism wherein also you are risen with him through faith of the operation of God who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened, made alive, together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting." This is the law, folks. This is that handwriting on the wall, the ordinances that was against us, which is contrary to us, and took it out of the way nailing it to His cross. And having spoiled principality and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of any holiday, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days, which are a shadow of things to come. but the body is of Christ. Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility in worshiping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding the head from which all the body by joints and bands, having nourishment ministered and knit together, increases with the increase of God. Wherefore, if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances? Do you see here how Christ is the end of the law? He who fulfilled all the law for us, verse 21, touch not, taste not, handle not, which all are to perish with the using after the commandments and the doctrines of men, which things have indeed showed of wisdom and will worship, and humility, neglecting of the body, not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh. Back in our handout, bottom of page 2, we have no earthly temple because Christ is our temple. We have no material altar because Christ is our altar. You don't need to come down to this piece of wood in the church. You can come to the altar right where you sit in church. It's coming to Christ, He is our altar. We have no earthly mercy seat because Christ is our mercy seat. We observe no Sabbath days because Christ is our Sabbath. Oh, how I wish I could convince my sister who demands that we worship God on Saturday because it's the Sabbath. Oh, I wish she would just understand that in Christ we are totally free from the yoke of legal bondage. Listen to these words of Romans 7, verse 4. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ. Christ, that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. Page 3. Look with me over at Galatians chapter 3. Turn over to Galatians chapter 3 if you would. That's just to the left of Colossians there. You go past Ephesians back towards Galatians. Galatians chapter 3. Look at verse 13 if you would with me. Galatians 3, 13. We're talking about the Lord fulfilling everything of the law for us, because we can't do it, folks. Every time we get up in the morning and open our eyes, we've broken the law. Why? Because we are sin from the top of our head to the bottom of our feet. Nothing in us is of any good, just like Paul says, even the good that I do, I see evil. Listen to these words, verse 13. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law. He fulfilled everything perfectly. Being made a curse for us, for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree, that the blessings of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, that the blessings of Abraham might have come upon the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Brethren, I speak of the manner of men, though it be not a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disalloweth or add thereto. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not unto the seeds, as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant that was confirmed before God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promises of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more a promise. But God gave it to Abraham by promise. Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made. And it was ordained by the angels in the hand of the mediator. This is the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilling the law for us. He is our mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. Is the law then against the promise of God? God forbid! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up under the faith, which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring, and actually to bring us is in italics, that was not there. It was the schoolmaster unto Christ that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith has come, we are no longer under the schoolmaster, for ye are all children of God by faith. in Christ Jesus. So we see that the temple was destroyed utterly. And we know this because of the records also in man's records of it. Josephus, folks, there was a lot of gold in that temple. And when Titus sent his men down there, he told them not to spend too much time looking for it, but they did anyway. And they tore every stone, they turned every stone over to get as much of the gold that had melted. The fire was so hot it melted the gold right down in the cracks. And they turned it all over to get that gold out. Everything was destroyed so that no man could use the old law to bring in salvation. Because it never did in the first place. It only pointed to our Savior who fulfilled everything for us. Now, let's consider the second thing that we see in our text tonight, and that is the exercise of wisdom. A second lesson that we could be learned in this passage, this is the first paragraph, page 3, is not so apparent as it might seem. Did you notice in verse 16 that our Lord plainly told his disciples to flee from certain death at the hands of persecution? Some of our wisest and most proper course of action is to flee from troubles. That's pretty difficult for some of us. I was talking to someone the other day, a brother. who is a manly man to me. He's a tough guy. And he's kind of pumped up about the fact that things are getting pretty wild here in the United States. And people are getting a little upset about this and a little bit upset about that. And he's kind of ready to go. He's like, oh, let's go. And my point to him that I tried to bring out is, you know, sometimes the will of God is not for us to stand up against people, especially if it has nothing to do with his gospel. I'm not saying we shouldn't fight wars. I'm thankful there are men who fought in World War II, World War I, and some of the other wars to keep our children safe. I'm thankful for those who stand up to tyranny here in the United States and make our streets safe for our children to walk on. But when it comes to spiritual matters, if they're not attacking Christ, some of our times it's just best if we walk away from it and let God's will be done. It's a lesson for us to learn. Sometimes it's wisest for us to take a course of action, and it's to flee from trouble. Many might think we're still in that second or that first paragraph, page two. Many might think that fleeing from persecution is an indication of cowardice. It is not. Without question, we are to confess Christ before men and be willing to die for him should providence demand it. But there are times when more graces are required to be quiet than to act. rashly. Let us never walk away from a known duty, but let us never deny or even be willing to compromise the gospel of Christ. But it is altogether proper for us to exercise wisdom and use good judgment in all matters. In our day at least, In the Western countries here where we are, the violence of physical persecution is not immediate threat to the followers of Christ, at least not yet. Yet the Savior's instruction is just as applicable today as it was in those who heard him speak those words in that day. When trouble arises, let us flee to our refuge. It says in Proverbs 18.10, deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemy. I flee unto thee to hide me. Teach me to do thy will. For thou art my God, thy spirit is good. Lead me into the land of the uprightness. I'm sorry, that was Psalms 143. Proverbs 18.10 says this, the name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous runneth unto it and is safe. When controversies rage among men, where the glory of God is not at stake, rather than engaging them, we should be wise and flee from them. Thirdly, we see our God's constant care for His people. Last paragraph of page 3, God's elect are always the object of His special love and tender care. Look at Matthew 24. 22 through 24 once again, if you would, and except those days, this is back in our text of Matthew 24, Matthew chapter 20, go to verse 22 again with me, 22 through 24, and except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved but for the elect's sake. Those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not. For there shall arise false Christ and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that if any were possible, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." God's elect are always. We're in the last paragraph of page three now. God's elect are always the object of his special love and tender care. Look, oh we did, I remind you that the world is but a scaffolding. Remember we spoke about that last week. Everything in the world is for one purpose. And that is to do this, to build God's church. It's a scaffolding for building his church and kingdom. The reprobate reap many of the benefits of providence, as Don puts it, yet God's people are blessed with all that is. Page four. Folks, the objects of God's providence are his elect, the elect. Those days of tribulation were shortened for the elect's sake. This would be a tremendous help if we can hold on to it, if we can just grab a hold of it and grasp it in our own day, in our own world. God's care is for His elect. He hears our prayers. He keeps us by His Spirit. He orders all affairs of the world for our good. Isn't that what Romans 28 is all about? He allows neither men nor devils to harm us. He sacrifices men and nations for His people. Listen to these words from Isaiah 43, 5-7. Fear not, for I am with thee. I will bring thy seed from the east and gather thee from the west. I will say to the north, give up, and to the south, keep not back. Bring my sons from far and my daughters from the ends of the earth, even every one that is called by my name, for I have created him for my glory. I have formed him, yea, I have made him. Brother Don Fortner wrote this, he said, be wise and make your calling and election sure. Tribulation and trouble are sure to attend our lives in this world. But in the midst of our earthly woes, here are three soft pillows for your aching head. And I love this. Don just writes things so much better. He says, electing love. Consider that. That's a great pillow to lay our heads on, especially in the trials that swarm up and the waves that crash up over us. Remember what Peter, when he took his eyes off of Christ and began to sink, what did the Lord do? He reached down and grabbed him by the arm. Wouldn't He do that for us? Oh, if He's going to send His Son to stand in our stead in death, Would He not give us all things? How about another one, our crucified Savior? He was the one who was crucified in our stead. He was the one who took all of the penalties that we deserve. He was the one who took all of His Father's wrath, the wrath that crushed Him there in the garden. and drove, crushed him so much that he bled great drops, he sweated great drops of blood. And how about divine providence? Folks, God does everything for the elect's sake. Fourthly, there are many antichrists. Look again with me in our text in Matthew 24. Look at verses 24 through 26. For there shall arise, this is back in our Bibles once again, for there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very like. Folks, it's not possible. God will never let us go. Yet these false priests, these false Christs, they stand in the place, as it says there in verse 15, they stand in the holy place. They stand before pulpits of thousands and thousands and thousands of people declaring the will of men over the will of God. Yet God will not let His people fall to those false prophets. Verse 25, Behold, I have told you before, wherefore, if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert, go not forth. Behold, he is in the secret chambers, believe it not. Go back to our text, if you would. Or, I mean, back to our handout, page four, mid-page. There are many antichrists in the world today. Listen to these words from 1 John chapter 4, 1 through 4. Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God. Because many false prophets are gone out into the world, hereby know ye the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God, and this is that spirit of Antichrist. Wherefore ye have heard that it should come, and even now already it is in the world. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is He that is in you." That's a great title for a message right there as well. Greater is He that is in you than He that is in the world. It's a serious mistake for us to limit Antichrist to one man. Many want to put that Pope over in Italy in that position, but it'd be a serious mistake to look at him and think he's the only one. There's more than one religious sect. Antichrist is already at work in the apostolic age, as we just read there in 1 John. John said many Antichrists have come into the world, not just one or two, but many. Page 5. Paul had contended with Antichrist in Galatia, Colossae, Corinth, and Jerusalem. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and Matthew 24 verse 3 describe the Antichrist as the man of sin, the son of perdition. Antichrist is anyone who opposes God, exalts himself above God, and or sets himself up in the temple of God to be worshipped as God, showing that he is God. This is to say Antichrist is in any system of religion as well. Any man, any preacher, any church, any denomination that makes salvation to be dependent upon or determined by the will, works, or worth of man rather than the will, works, and worth of Christ. It does not matter. Whether that system of religion is conservative, or liberal, or mainline Protestant church, or wild cult maybe, or Baptist, or Methodist, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, any church doctrine, any preacher, or religious system that makes man the centerpiece is an anti-Christ. Let me make a stand here right now. Those who teach that God's will can be altered, hindered, or thwarted by man's will are, according to Colossians 2, will worshipers, not God worshipers. They are antichrists. Those who teach that the merit and efficiency of Christ's atonement is dependent on man's will, man's decision, and man's faith are an abomination of desolation. They are anti-Christ, and when we see that, run from it. Those who teach that the gracious operations of the Holy Spirit may be successfully resisted by man are anti-Christ. Those who teach that grace can be forfeited or taken away as a result of something man has done are anti-Christ. Any religion, any doctrine, any so-called gospel that turns you away from looking to Christ alone as your Savior is anti-Christ. A Christ who loves but cannot save is useless and anti-Christ. A Christ who redeems but does not save is useless. An Antichrist. A Christ who calls but does not convert is useless. An Antichrist. A Christ whose work depends upon the will or the work of the sinner to make it effectual and complete is useless. An Antichrist, a Christ who wills the salvation of any who are not actually saved by his power is useless. An Antichrist, page six. The fifth point we can see in our text tonight is the final advent, Christ's advent, Christ's return. Our Lord's second coming will be sudden, it'll be climatic, it'll be a glorious event, for God's people. Verse 27, for as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even to the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man. I was watching a video the other day, one of our, a friend of ours put, lightning coming from the ground back up to the sky. That was pretty wild. It sure looked like it was doing that. But did you notice in that video, it was the blink of an eye. If you just were looking away for a second, it happened and it was gone. But folks, that's not the second coming of God. It'll be just like that, but everyone will see it. Contrary to the prophecy experts of our day, there is no such thing as a secret rapture. That movie, or whatever it is, it talks about those that are left behind. What nonsense. What absolute nonsense. When our Lord appears, his coming will be startling and sudden as a bolt of lightning. and he'll be seen by all men at once, as it is stated in Revelation 1 verse 7. His coming will terrify the wicked, but it'll be a delight for the believer. Let us live every moment in the hope and expectation of His glorious return. Looking for the blessed hope, it says in Titus 2, verses 13 and 14, looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto Himself a peculiar people zealous of good works. And these words from Jude chapter, well, there's only one chapter, but verses 20 through 21, But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And then our last point we want to look at tonight says in the final verse there, verse 28, For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together." Now, as I read through commentators, there are two common interpretations given in this verse by sound men as well. Charles Spurgeon, John Gill, Matthew Henry. And they preach the gospel truths, as far as I can tell. Frankly, I don't know which is strictly correct. But since both are theologically sound, I'll give you them both tonight. Some of the commentators teach that the carcass here refers to empty, dead Judaism, and the eagles to the flocks of lost religions, lost religious men and women who cling They cling to it feverishly. They're going to hang on to it right to the end, even to the destruction of their own lives and of the lives of their sons and daughters. So it is today. Find a church that is utterly dead, void of the knowledge of God, his gospel, his word, his grace, his son, and his glory, and you'll find a church full of lost religious people. Foul, unclean birds feed upon dead carcasses. where there is no life, people cling to rituals, ceremonies, creeds, and emotionalism, page seven. But there is another thought, one that I think is a greater blessing. Perhaps the carcass, singular, here refers to our Lord Jesus Christ, who was slain for our sins, And the eagles refer to chosen sinners, like you and I, who flee to him for salvation and life. And the rest of our tonight's study, I quote directly and especially from our dear brother Don Fortner, blessed of God to write so well, puts it better than I could in any day. So you'll notice in italics, these are direct quotes from him. Christ crucified, writes Don, is the great magnet by which God draws chosen sinners to himself. Whether that is the teaching of this verse or not, I will not attempt to say. But it is the teaching of Holy Scripture. And Don gives two sections of scripture to validate his thoughts. First, from John 12, verse 32, and he says, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. And another one in 1 Corinthians 1, verse 21 through 23, for after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God. By the foolishness of preaching, to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified." This is talking about lifting up the Lord Jesus, the very lifting up that he uses to draw all men unto him. But we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block and unto the Greeks foolishness. And that And Don goes on and says, that is clearly our Savior's teaching in Luke 17, verse 38, where he makes a similar statement. Whosoever, wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together. Notice the use, writes Don, of the definite article. Our Lord said, wheresoever the body. is, not wheresoever bodies are, not wheresoever carcasses are, but wheresoever the singular, the body, is. Thither will the eagles be gathered together. Also, Don takes notice that he speaks of eagles, not buzzards, in the plural. The body of the one slain is our Lord Jesus Christ. The eagles are God's elect who are gathered to Him in faith. This is clearly the teaching of Holy Scripture. When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. For the Lord's portion is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land and in a waste, howling wilderness, and led him about. He instructed him. He kept him as the apple of his eye, as an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, and spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings. So the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange God with him." Deuteronomy 32, 8 through 12. And this as well, now my days are swifter than a post. They flee away, they see no good. They are passed away as the swift ships, as the eagle that has hasted to the prey. Job 9, 25-26, and the teaching of our Savior, the Lord Jesus. Page 8. Don goes on to say this, he says, God's elect are spoken of in the scriptures as eagles. His church is given the wings of the eagle, that great eagle in Revelation 12, 14. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings of eagles, as we see in Isaiah 41, 31. Wherever Christ crucified is set forth in the preaching of the gospel, wherever the crucified Christ is revealed to men by the power and grace of his spirit through the preaching of the gospel, there his elect will be gathered unto him." I want to stop there just a moment. This is something I've been trying to encourage and express how blessed it is to me to see the gathering of God's saints to his word. I know they don't have a pastor to stand in their pulpit, but they're not going somewhere else. They're not like buzzards feeding on whatever dead carcasses they can find. They're looking to the living God. And that's what we do here, that's what they do up in Oregon, that's what they did over there in Marysville last weekend, and they're doing again this weekend. They're feasting. They're feasting on the living God, the Lord Jesus Christ. In the day when the Son of Man is revealed. This will go on, shall we? The third paragraph of page 8. Christ's eagles gather to Him. who is their food. He's the one upon whom we live. He is to us life eternal. The body of our slain Savior Christ crucified is the meeting point of his elect. He is the great magnet drawing needy souls like eagles to the carcass. He said, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. God, our creator, in the book of Joe, says of the eagle, his creature, she abideth upon the rock. From thence she seeketh the prey. Her eyes behold afar off where the slain are. There she is. There is she. God our Savior here tells us, as the eagles gather around the body, soul, the souls of men chosen, redeemed, and called by my grace are gathered unto me. Keen and swift as the eagles for the prayer of God's elect for Christ crucified. These are the words of our blessed Savior. Let not one of them fall to the ground. Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together. The eagle is a bird of prey. In all birds of prey, we are told there is a great sense of smell. added to its sense of smell. The eagle has a ravenous appetite, writes Don, compelled by hunger and its sense of smell. It flies quickly at every opportunity to its feast. Folks from San Diego drove all the way up here to North America, I mean to Northern California, to hear the Lord Jesus Christ preached in the pulpit over there in Marysville. They fleed at every opportunity to its feast. But the eagle is not a vulture. It does not feed on dead things, but living. And the crucified Christ, upon whom our souls feed, the one slain as our substitute, is alive forevermore. He sits on his throne today. His hands bear the marks of his great works. This is the last paragraph, page 8. If Christ has given us life in Himself, if He has made us alive by His grace, He gives us a continually increasing appetite and hunger for Himself. Does He not? I shared this with the folks down there in San Diego. You folks have all heard the story of how the Lord brought me here. broken-hearted to cry on my brother's shoulder and I heard for the first time something that made more sense to me than anything I'd ever heard in this in my lifetime. The next Sunday I got up got dressed and got ready to walk out the door and get on my motorcycle and come up here. Kathy says, where are you going? I said, I'm going to church. She goes, why? I said, I don't know. I just got to go. Do you not hunger for Him, for His grace, for His embrace, for His face, for His righteousness, for His blood, for His presence? Page 9. Hungering for Him, His eagles fly to the place where he is, like famished birds hastening to the prey. They fly with eager anticipation to his house, his word, his ordinances, and his throne of grace. As David longed for the waters of Bethlehem when he was thirsty, oh, let our souls long for Christ. As the heart panteth after the water brooks, So he longed for his God. May the same be true of you and I, you and me. Oh, for grace to have our souls hungering for Christ crucified day and night. As the eagles gather together unto the prey, so should we be found feasting upon Christ crucified relentlessly. In Him, in His glorious excellencies, is everything our souls need. His name is our salvation, our high tower. His blood is our atonement. His righteousness is our dress. His perfections are our delight. His promises are our meditation. His grace is our assurance. His visits are our sweet memories. His presence is our joy. His strength is our comfort. His glory is our ambition. His coming is our hope. His company forever is our heaven. As I read those last words, I thought of this. Sometimes frivolous discussions, myself and my brother Bill, over what heaven is like, but we've always come down to this. The boiling point of our conversation is wherever Christ is, if I'm with Him, I'm in heaven. Crave Him, writes Don, crave Him. Like birds of prey crave their food, let us crave our Savior. If we have tasted that the Lord is gracious, let us feast upon Him. And I close with these thoughts. May God give us a constant, ever-increasing hunger for Christ. A hunger for everything He is. I want to hear. I know what is right and wrong. I know what is good and evil. And I know that everything in me is covered with wickedness. I want to hear about the righteous man who walked this earth. The man who gave himself for me. The one who came to this earth and lowered himself to be a servant. A servant to his people. A servant to God his Father. I hunger for Him who He is, the God-man. I hunger for everything that He gives. Folks, we can't wrap our minds around the depth that God gives, the love that God gives for His people. We read His Word and we see what He's done for us and we read the promises that He has for His people and it still is incomprehensible of how deep that is. I hunger to hear more. I hunger for everything that He's done. I know there's no righteousness in me and the only righteousness I have before God is in His Son, the Lord Jesus. I hunger for that. Do you? I hunger for everything that belongs to Him. Everything belongs to Him. All of creation, all that is. Everything outside of what we can imagine belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. And if He is ours, all things are ours in Him. And I hunger for that gracious force the force that forces us ever to fly to Him like an eagle to the prey. Wherever Christ is, there will His people fly. Amen.