Join me tonight in the book of
Revelation, if you would, chapter one, Revelation chapter one,
the apocalypse, the revealing of Jesus Christ, a light to lighten
the Gentiles, the revelation of Jesus Christ. And in this
verse of scripture, we see that once again. And to our great
delight, We just get to see it in almost every verse in this
book. It is a compact declaration of the greatness and might of
our God, the Lord Jesus. And I'd like to begin reading
verses 1 through 18, and then we would like to look at verse
7 tonight. Verse 7, behold, he cometh. with clouds, and every eye shall
see him, and they also which pierced him, and all kindreds
of the earth shall wail because of him, even so, amen. All right, verse one, the revelation
of Jesus Christ, the apocalypse. That's what that word is, the
apocalypse. And as we mentioned over in one of the gospels, it
says the word is also translated, he is a light to lighten the
Gentiles. A revelation, a bright light.
I've been working, I don't know why they call it dry rot. I don't
know why they call it dry rot. It's sweat rot. And there was
a, looking under that house, I had to get a flashlight. I
just could not see through the dark and put a flashlight on
it and could see things. And that's just what Jesus Christ
is to us. He is the light to lighten the
Gentiles. And he reveals himself. And we
sang about that. I don't know how he does it,
but he does it. And he does it in such a glorious
way that the church says, worthy is the lamb that was slain. the
revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him to show unto
his servants things which must shortly come to pass. And he
sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant, John,
who bear record of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus
Christ and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth
and they that hear the words of this prophecy and keep those
things which are written therein for the time is at hand. Keep
those things which are written therein. Every day we'll be blessed
by remembering the greatness of our Savior. Every day. Remembering the greatness
of our Savior. And I believe that's what he's
talking about. It's our privilege to meditate on the greatness
of our Savior. The magnitude of his salvation. And from Jesus Christ, let me
back up, John to the seven churches which are in Asia, grace be unto
you and peace from him which is and which was and which is
to come. And from the seven spirits which
are before his throne and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful
witness and the first begotten of the dead and the prince of
the kings of the earth unto him that loved us and washed us from
our sins in his own blood. and hath made us kings and priests,
and to God and his Father, and to him be glory and dominion
for ever and ever, amen. Behold, he cometh with clouds,
and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him,
and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him, even
so, amen. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the ending. Saith the Lord, which is, and
which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. I, John, who also
am your brother. I like that. John, our brother. He's not a super Christian. He's
a brother. Brother in Christ. Paul would
say the same thing. Yeah. Stephen, Philip, Bartholomew. They'd all say, we're your brother.
Jesus said in the church, there's no hierarchy. We're all equal. Only place on earth where everybody
is equal. That's in the church. Bond or
free, male or female, rich or poor, everybody is equal in the
church. There's no, I like this, no big
I's and little u's. Everybody's equal. I, John, who
also am your brother and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom
and patience of Jesus Christ was on the aisle that is called
Panemus for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the spirit on the Lord's
day. That's a good place to be. Every day is his day, but we,
the first day of the week, we get to celebrate the resurrection.
Now, every day we live by that. I've mentioned we don't pray
unless we believe in the resurrection. Now we may mumble words, but
we can't pray unless we believe in the resurrection. Jesus Christ
sitting at the right hand of the Father making intercession
for us, if that's not part of our spiritual being, we're just
mouthing words. And that's what a lot of people
do. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Say it
45 times and get some pittance, you know? But the Lord, he's
sitting on high and lifted up on his throne and we pray because
he's raised from the dead. We live because he's raised from
the dead. We fellowship because he's raised
from the dead. We're brothers and sisters in Christ because
he is raised from the dead. I was in the spirit on the Lord's
day and I heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet. Now this
is Jesus. This is the Lord Jesus. This
is our Savior speaking and it's a great voice like a trumpet. It was said during his personal
ministry this. This is like a trumpet. He spoke
as one having authority. and not as one of the scribes. Now that's the voice of a trumpet.
Clear, distinct, powerful, meaningful. And when we read the words of
the Lord Jesus, that should be what strikes us. He speaks as
a trumpet, one with authority and not just mouthing words. Saying, I am Alpha and Omega,
the first and the last. And what thou seest, write in
a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia,
and to Ephesus, and unto Samarna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira,
and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. And I turned
to see the voice that spake with me, and being turned, I saw seven
golden candlesticks. And in the midst of the seven
candlesticks, Hmm one like under the Son of Man Now his reaction
at the conclusion of this is I feel dead like I was dead What
an impression the Lord made on him He's not singing me and Jesus
have a great thing going He's not singing it Or Jesus
is my co-pilot. He's saying he's so powerful. I fell as I were dead. He was clothed like a high priest. He is our high priest. clothed
with a garment down to the foot, and gird about the paps with
a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white
like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were a flame of
fire." It's interesting that the jurists of England still
wear those wigs to give themselves the impression of authority and
wisdom. Lord Jesus doesn't need a wig.
His hair's like white, like authority, power, wisdom is all in him combined. And his eyes were a flame of
fire, feet like in the fine brass, as it had if they were burned
in a furnace, and his voice was the sound of many waters. And
he had in his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went
a sharp two-edged sword. The word of God. and his countenance
was as the sun, shineth in his strength. And when I saw him,
I fell at his feet as dead, and he laid his right hand upon me,
saying unto me, fear not, I am the first and the last. I'm he
that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore,
amen, and have the keys of death and hell. All right, let's go
back over here to verse seven. I know that we looked a little
bit at this verse seven last time we had the privilege of
being together. And I'm very thankful for those who stood
in my place when I was gone. But I want to say a few more
things about this, verse 7. It says, as John was meditating,
as he was thinking, and my, when you get to thinking about the
things that be of the Lord, Lord, help us not to wander off onto
fleshly things about the Lord, but spiritual things. Let's behold
him as he is. John says here, he's meditating
on the Lord Jesus, says in verse five, faithful witness, first
begotten of the dead, prince of the kings of the earth. Oh,
he loved me so much he gave himself for me. And he cleansed me, washed
me from my sins in his own blood. He's made us all kings and priests. My, he's promoted us. We have
a promotion that we could never get on our own. He's promoted
us. We have a certificate. That's
a certificate. That means that we have an inheritance
undefiled in heaven that fades not away. It's a certification
of it, and that is given to us by down payment by the indwelling
of the Holy Spirit. And then he says here, behold,
he cometh with clouds. He's meditating, how it leads
him. Now, the statements found in
the New Testament about the coming of the Lord Jesus are not new. They're Old Testament. We find
men and women of the Old Testament believed as firmly in the coming
of Christ the second time as they did the first time, just
like you and I. We, by faith, believe the Lord
Jesus came and was suspended between heaven and earth as our
sacrifice. We don't have to go back there
to prove it. We don't have to find the ground. We don't have
to find a cave. We don't have to find a tomb.
We don't have to find some board or any of those things to believe
that the Lord Jesus was here, born of a virgin. It's either
ours or there isn't. It's either given to us or we
don't believe it. But let's turn over to the book of Job, if you
would, Job chapter 19. And brother Job had something
to write about the coming of the Lord Jesus. Now, for a long
time, I said, and I try to correct myself now, the second coming
of Jesus, second coming of Christ. I like to put it this way, Christ
at his second coming. When we start looking at the
second coming of Christ, we start looking for things that are going
to happen that precede that. And when we look at Christ at
his second coming, we're looking for Christ. And that's what the
church was looking for. That's what the church in 100
A.D. was looking for, Christ at his
second coming. The promise of his coming was
made and they're looking for him, not looking for signs. There's
something said in the scriptures about signs. Jesus told a group
of people that, woe to those who seek signs. Adulterous generations
seek after signs, but no sign shall be given except the sign
of Jonah, the prophet Jonah, a wicked and a liar. A wicked
and adulterous generation seek after a sign. It just gets worse,
doesn't it? We're not looking for signs. We're looking for
Christ at His coming. The second time. Not looking
for anything to be built, anybody to move. We're looking for Christ
to return. Now, here in the book of Job,
Job chapter 19, written so long ago, A man that was overwhelmed
by the calamities. Now we sang about a song in our
song there tonight. I don't know about God's providence.
I don't know whether my days will be glorious or my days will
have hardship. We just don't know. Well, Job
was one who had hardship. This book is written about a
man in suffering. He lost his family, he lost his
wealth, he lost his health. He lost the fellowship of his
wife. He lost a lot. And here in the 19th chapter
of the book of Job and in verse 25, it says, now this is written
long time ago. Job was an ancient man now, but
notice what he had to say and what he shared with the saints
down through the ages. He said here in Job chapter 19
verse 25, for I know that my Redeemer liveth. Now, he said
a mouthful, he knows a Redeemer. A Redeemer. And in saying that,
he's admitting that he was a slave. He's a slave to sin. He was a
slave under Adam. And there was one that came along
and redeemed him out of the hand of the fowler. redeemed him from
sin. I know that my Redeemer liveth.
It says there in Job 19 verse 25, I know that my Redeemer liveth
and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And
though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall
I see God. Now he believed in the coming
of Christ a second time. It was so ingrained in him. He's an Old Testament saint with
New Testament theology. He had a grasp about the coming
of the Lord Jesus, and he believed firmly in his Redeemer. And though he would pass away,
and before the Lord Jesus Christ even came, born of a virgin,
he was given the faith to look ahead and say, I know he's coming
again to get me out of the dirt. What statement Job made as it
was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit. We just sang a song,
the works of the Holy Spirit. They're past finding out, but
what the Holy Spirit does in revealing the Lord Jesus, it
will give us confidence that our Redeemer liveth and on the
earth again shall stand. And though after we pass through
the portals of death and our body is cast aside, Yet in my
flesh shall I see God." A resurrection. He's going to go out. Now, John
says, behold, he cometh. Behold, he cometh. Let's go back
over there to the book of Revelation. John believed what Job believed.
Job believed what John believed. Why? The Holy Spirit revealed
it to all of them. He was confident. He believed,
behold, he cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him.
Now, I'd like to just look at this clouds for a moment. I know I'm a word out, but there's
something there. There's something there, you
know, a cloud, a cloud is a representation of one. Compound on our earth
that appears in three forms all at the same time. A cloud will
hold ice, a cloud will hold vapor, and a cloud will hold water.
All at the same time. What a picture of the Trinity. There's no difference in value
in whether it's ice, vapor, or liquid. They're all H2O. Characteristics, the same. Ministry, somewhat different. Blessing each other. all come
out of the cloud. Now, there's a cloud in the Old
Testament that just causes God's people to say, oh my, and you
do it today to us. Turn with me, if you would, over
to the book of Exodus, chapter 13. This cloud, he come with
a cloud. Cloud's been used in the scriptures
for many things, to reveal many things. But there's nothing much
more blessed to a Christian than this cloud that led the children
of Israel in the Old Testament. and this pillar of fire. Here
in the book of Exodus, chapter 13, we read about this cloud,
this cloud, and he comes with the cloud, and he's in the cloud. We're gonna see that in the scriptures.
Here in the book of Exodus, chapter 13, we think about the Lord Jesus,
he comes in the cloud, he's gonna come, and they that pierced him
are gonna see him, and those who didn't pierce him are gonna
see him, and they're gonna wail. But here in the book of Exodus
chapter 13 and verse 21, the scriptures share this. It says, by day in a pillar of a cloud
to lead them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to
give them light, and to go by day and night. And he took not
away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire
by night from before the people." Now I'm convinced that today,
spiritually speaking, the Lord Jesus Christ still leads his
people just like he did there. by the power of his spirit. We
were talking about that on Sunday night, about a magnet, just a
piece of metal. But we have so grown accustomed
to that piece of metal following some unseen force to point north
so we can find north, south, east, and west, too, and all
the points in between. There's an unseen force that
controls that, and I am absolutely convinced that the Holy Spirit
is more powerful than the unseen force that controls a magnet.
The Holy Spirit is able to lead his people to do according to
his divine purpose and will. And we see this evidenced in
the Old Testament by a pillar of cloud that led the children
of Israel. And they may say one day, Moses,
aren't those our tracks? We've been here before? And Moses
could say, yes they are, but do you see that pillar of fire
and that pillar of cloud? That's what's leading us, not
we ourselves. It's the cloud, it's the cloud. And then if you turn with me
to the book of Numbers chapter 14. Numbers chapter 14, as we
think about this cloud, he comes in the cloud, there's some, there's
significance to that cloud, that the Lord Jesus would come in
the cloud. It's symbolic of his power and his glory and Trinity
and the power of God combined, glorious power. Numbers chapter
14, here we read verse 14. Numbers chapter 14 and verse
14, the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire that led the children
of Israel and Holy Spirit does the same today. Numbers chapter
14 and verse 14, it says, and they will tell it to the inhabitants
of the land for they have heard that thou, Lord, art among his
people and that thou, Lord, art seen face to face and that thy
cloud standeth over them and that thou goest before them by
day Time in a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire by night.
These outsiders know that you're leading your people by this. Oh, we're just not going hodgepodge
through this world. We're just not jumping from stump
to stump. We're led by the power of God. by the wisdom of God,
by the strength of God, by an unseen force, the Holy Spirit. Now this cloud, he cometh in
a cloud. Now turn with me if you would
to the Psalm, Psalm 97. Psalm 97. Psalm 97 in verse two. Let's go back up to verse 1.
Psalm 97 verse 1 and 2. The Lord reigneth. Let the earth
rejoice. Let the multitude of isles be
glad thereof. Clouds and darkness are round
about him. Righteousness and judgment are
the habitation of his throne. Clouds and darkness. What symbolism. It was from a cloud one day that
a voice said, this is my beloved son. hear ye him from a cloud. This absolute power, glory of
God, he's going to come in glory He's going to come in power.
This cloud is symbolic of the glory. He's not coming as a weakling. He's coming as all powerful.
He's coming as almighty. He's coming as the one that rules
and reigns. He's the one that has governed
this world and held it together. He's coming with great power. And that's what the scriptures
tell us about the coming of the Lord Jesus. power and great glory. We mentioned last time that we
were together. There is no place in all the
Bible that speaks about it being a silent secret coming. It talks
about such an outstanding blast of a trumpet. It's going to scare
the dead. the dead without Christ, and
it's going to be the tinkling of a bell of victory to the saved. Power and great glory. He's going
to come in power and great glory. Cloud, this is my beloved son. Hear ye him. As we look at that
verse of scripture over there, turn with me, if you would, to
the book of Isaiah chapter 19. Isaiah chapter 19. And then we want to look at a
couple in the New Testament. Isaiah chapter 19, this cloud
is so symbolic of the very presence of the Lord, the glory of the
Lord. Every attribute and characteristic of the Lord, he's going to be
coming with power and great glory, demonstrating a crack of light. a burst of a trumpet, a sound
that will shake this earth from end to end. It's not just going
to be a manby-pamby coming, it's going to be with power and thunder
and a voice of a trumpet and everyone will see him. Every
eye shall see him. Every knee shall bow before him.
This is Lord Jesus is coming back. The King of Glory is coming
back. The one who has ruled over his
church and ruled over this world and he will gather his elect
to the right hand and he'll gather the rest to his left hand and
he will speak And the people will inherit the kingdom that
was prepared for them before the world was, and the rest shall
be turned into hell that was prepared for the devil and his
angels without a word. Every mouth shall be silenced
before the Lord. The Christians in awe that they
ever got to see grace, and the lost in judgment because the
judge has spoken. There won't be any mouthing to
God. There will not be any backtalk to God. There won't be any, why?
It ain't fair. They'll submit themselves to
the cloud of glory, the Lord Jesus. All right, Isaiah chapter
19, verse one, the burden of Egypt. Behold, the Lord rideth
upon a swift cloud. and shall come into Egypt, and
the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart
of the Egypt shall melt in the midst of it. Now isn't that what
he's gonna do there in Revelation chapter one, verse eight, to
the rest? They're gonna be moved by the
power of this cloud. What's it say? The islands of
Egypt shall be moved at his presence and the heart of Egypt shall
be melt in the midst of it. Egypt is so often just a symbol
of sinners and he'll move against them with their consent. Now
turn with me to the Matthew chapter 24. Matthew chapter 24. This is a great coming of the
Lord. This is a victory of the Lord.
This is the climax of the acts of the Lord Jesus Christ. This
is the finish of the finish. When he said it's finished, it's
finished. But this is the finish of the finish when he comes to
receive his own unto himself. when he declares eternity to
begin, when the action that took place in the Garden of Eden is
reversed, when Adam's fall is taken care of, when sin shall
be put away forever. When those raised in Christ will
never remember a sin again, will not commit a sin again, will
not think about it, we shall know him as he is. We shall be
likened to him. We shall be given a body like
unto his glorious body. It will be the completion of
the finish. The Lord Jesus Christ shall speak
peace to all of his people, and they shall rest in him for eternity
without ever a thought of sin. Tears will be taken away. It's
taken away spiritually now, but then in reality, we will not
wonder, we'll not surmise about what's happened to anybody else.
We'll worship the King of glory with thanksgiving. We'll be like
that woman who came in and anointed his feet with alabaster box of
ointment. We'll be so glad to be in his
presence. And he said that she's doing
it for my burial and we'll do it because of his resurrection.
It'll be a glorious time. Now, all right, Matthew chapter
24, it overwhelms us, just overwhelms us at the very presence and power
and coming of the Lord Jesus, Matthew 24. And there in verse
30, the scriptures say this, and then shall appear the sign
of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes
of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming
in clouds of heaven with power and great glory. That should be in big capital
letters. They shall see him. That clouds, it's not going to
hide him. It's going to be the backdrop. It'll reflect the glory of the
Lord Jesus Christ. It will declare his glory. It'll
declare his sovereignty. It'll declare his mercy. It'll
declare his grace. This great cloud, figuratively
speaking, I don't know whether it's going to be in clouds or
not, but he's sure going to be glorious when he arrives. And
every eye shall see him. They that pierced him, those
that were sinners saved by God's free grace. Look upon him whom
they pierced. I sent him to the tree, but by
it he saved me from my sin. All right, and then in chapter
26 and verse 64, chapter 26 and verse 64 of that same book of
Matthew. Matthew chapter 6, 26 in verse
64. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said, nevertheless,
I say unto you, Hereafter shall you see the Son of Man sitting
on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven.
And then the high priest rent his clothes saying, he has spoken
blasphemy. What further need have we of
witness? Behold, now you have heard his
blasphemy. That's a lost man speaking about
the glory of God. I don't believe it. I don't believe
it. And the church is sitting around
saying, oh my, I want some more of that. I want some more of
that. Give me some more of that. And
I lost as blasphemy, coming in power and great glory. All right. Every eye shall see him. Would
you turn with me to the book of 1 Thessalonians chapter 1?
1 Thessalonians chapter 1 is just chock full of the grace
of God demonstrated in the lives of people. The Apostle Paul shares
with them and he concludes this chapter about the coming of the
Lord Jesus a second time. First Thessalonians chapter one
beginning with verse one. Well, let's read verse 10 and
then we'll back up because this is the culmination of God's people's
faith in Christ. A person that says they do not
believe in the coming of Christ the second time is not a believer. That's just all there is to it.
Will not, cannot be a believer. Now notice here, verse 10. And
to wait for his son from heaven. That's our call. That's our commission.
To wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead,
even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. We deserve the wrath to come,
but he's delivered us from the wrath to come, and we get to
wait for the Lord Jesus, wait for his son from heaven. And
the only indication we have in all the scriptures about when
he's coming back is someday the last sheep will be saved. That's
the only indicator. Now everything else is man-made.
Everything else is contrived. The only thing in scripture that
shares with us about the coming of the Lord Jesus is the long-suffering
of the Lord means salvation. So somewhere it might be our
children, our grandchildren. It might be someone who just
came from Uganda. It might be one of those Iraqis
over there that hears the gospel from one of our soldiers. We
don't know. But somewhere, there's still
some sheep to be saved. I trust here in the Dalles. I
trusted some of our children. I do. I believe it. But when
the last one is saved, the last name written down in the Lamb's
Book of Life, then He will come with clouds and power and great
glory and wrap this up. And for eternity, we'll sit at
His feet and praise Him for saving us from our sins. For eternity,
we'll never wear it out. It won't be just a fad. It will
be an eternal desire given to us. All right. Paul, and Silvanus,
and Timotheus, and to the Church of the Thessalonians, which is
in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be unto
you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We
give thanks to God always for you, all, making mention of you
in our prayers. They just said, thank you, Lord,
for those folks. Oh my goodness, you worked a work of grace down
there in Thessalonica. The gospel was preached, and
we don't know how, but we know you worked a work of grace. It
was a miracle took place. Whole bunch of people were born
again. They were radical, idolatrous people, hell-bent and hell-deserving,
but you worked a work of grace in them. Now, let's see, remembering
without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience
of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of God and our Father,
knowing, brethren, beloved, your election of God. You couldn't
do this unless God worked a work of grace in you. He had an interest
in you before the foundation of the world, and now it has
been worked out, and you can see the evidence of it. You love
God. You're God lovers. What's the
Romans 828? Talks about a bunch of God lovers.
All things work together for the good of them that love God.
It's a bunch of God lovers. We're atheists by nature and
God haters in purpose, but God makes us God lovers. And here
he says, you're just a bunch of God lovers. Remembering without
ceasing. Knowing your brethren beloved,
your election of God, for our gospel came not unto you in word
only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much
assurance, as ye know what manner of men we were among you for
your sake. Sinner saved by grace was among us. It wasn't in their
hands. It wasn't Paul's salvation. I'll
never forget reading about Billy Sunday. Now I don't agree with
his theology at all, but I liked what he had to say one time.
A man says he was drunk and came up to Billy Sonny and said, I'm
one of your converts. Billy Sonny said, I know it.
If you're one of God's, you wouldn't be like that. God didn't waste his time like
that. All right. Now he says here,
you became followers of us. and of the Lord, having received
the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost, so that
ye were examples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia.
For from you sounded out the word of the Lord, not only in
Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith Godward
is spread abroad, so that we need not to speak anything. For
they themselves show us what manner of entering in we had,
unto you and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living
and true God. Now that's repentance. That's
a wonderful statement about repentance. Now if we follow this down, we
just see the activity of God among these people. And then
he says in verse 10, and to wait for his son from heaven. And to wait for his son from
heaven. Someday the sun's going to come
by. Come on. Now we may go home by the subway,
but he's still going to say, come on. We may go home by air. Come on. He's going to get us
going. Move us. Wait for his son from
heaven, whom he raised from the dead. Even Jesus was delivered
us from the wrath to come. Every eye shall see him. Every
believer in Christ Jesus. Everyone God saved. Knowing brethren
beloved your election of God. Those God's work to work a grace
in. The church from beginning to
end. Those even now waiting before
his throne in spirit are waiting for the coming of the Lord. Waiting. Waiting. And it's not way out
there. It's up front. Waiting, waiting,
waiting. God's people are waiting for
the coming of the Lord Jesus the second time. It's just part
of their nature. They don't have to have preaching
on it every Sunday to believe it. It's just part of their nature. And they rejoice in the preaching
of it because it's part of their nature to wait for the coming
of the Lord Jesus. Now, Going over here again to the
book of Revelation, Revelation chapter one and verse seven. Behold, he cometh with clouds,
such glory, such light, such power. It's going to take power
to raise all his people from all the places that they've been
deposited. Now, I don't have a problem one with people wanting
to be cremated. But all that dust thrown out
there on the hillside or the sea or whatever, God's just going
to put it right back together. Those who have been in the grave,
those who were eaten by animals during the terrible times of
the church, those just scattered. God's, the power of God to put
his people back into a presence where the spirit is reunited
with the body, now that's power. Power to resurrect Jesus Christ,
same power. Power to raise us from the spiritual
dead, same power. That's the power of God, to do
what he promised to do. And it says, he cometh with clouds,
and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him.
That verse over in Zechariah, oh, he gave grace so that people
could see him whom they pierced. He opened their eyes so they
could see him whom they pierced. It's not talking about lost people,
it's talking about God's people, his church. And then the latter
part of that, it says, And all the kindreds of the earth shall
wail because of him. And I thought this was interesting,
the last three words of that verse. Even so, amen. That reminded me of a verse over
here in the book of Matthew. Would you turn with me there
as we close? Matthew chapter 11. Now, I don't
know why I forget that Matthew chapter 11 is the one that closes
with such a delightful close. and there it says his burden
is easing but notice this Matthew chapter 11 is speaking about
John the Baptist came to pass when Jesus had made an end of
commanding his 12 disciples he departed thence to teach to the
preach to their cities now when John had heard in prison that
The works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said
unto him, art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?
And Jesus answered and said unto him, go and show John again those
things which ye do hear and see. The blind receive their sight,
and the lame walk, and the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear,
and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached
unto them. Now notice verse six. And blessed is he whosoever shall
not be offended in me. Now I read a translation one
time on that and it says, blessed are those who do not find fault
with the way God does his business. Now over there in Revelation
chapter one, verse eight, closes out and says, even so, amen. Blessed are those who don't find
fault with the way God does his business. They rest in his eternal,
everlasting sovereignty. There will be those that wail,
even so, amen. Blessed are they who do not find
fault with the way God does his business. I believe that's the truth. That's
the only way we're going to have peace. God, as sure as you're
coming again, you're in charge. As sure as you're coming with
great glory, you're king. As sure as the glory shall shine
from the east to the west when you return, you have the throne. And we're just mere, mere, Sinners say by grace, do as you
please, because I don't want to be offended at the way you
do your business.