Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. There is an inseparable connection
between the return of Christ and the resurrection of the saints.
He comes back to manifest his absolute triumph over sin, hell,
death, and the grave in that momentous day. The last enemy
that shall be destroyed is death. The adoption of his sons is culminated
in the resurrection of their bodies from the grave into which
they were committed to sleep until that appointed hour when
he would come to receive that which is his by decree and purchase. He left in the clouds with a
group of witnesses, and we believe that he is coming back in the
same fashion. 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. He left with the declaration
of the angels to his disciples, and we believe he will come back
with the same. For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and
with the trump of God. He left unexpectedly and with
great quickness. Behold, I come quickly. He left
as those for whom he died looked on, and he shall come back in
the same manner. So Christ was once offered to
bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for him shall
he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. He left in
the same glorious body with which he rose from the dead. And we
believe that he will come again in the same. This same Jesus,
those who are his sheep look for no other because they believe
that he is the resurrection and the life. And it shall be said
in that day, lo, this is our God. We have waited for him and
he will save us. This is the Lord. We have waited
for him. We will be glad and rejoice in
his salvation. It is with that truth firmly
planted in our minds that we approach the Lord's table and
partake of those elements of bread and wine which represents
His body broken for His elect bride and His blood shed for
her redemption. This shall not be repeated in
the ages to come. There will be no more need for
the shadow when the substance is before us. When we see him
as he is, we will no longer need that supper to testify to us
of him, but we will behold him face to face, and that which
we long for shall be realized. Even so come, Lord Jesus." It
would seem quite clear to us that those for whom he died are
those to whom he left this memorial feast and commanded through the
Apostle Paul to each one to examine himself and then eat of that
supper. This examination is not so that
we can discover whether or not we are worthy to partake of it,
but rather to remind us that we can never be worthy of our
own selves. Notice that he says, and so let
him eat, as if there is no other outcome expected from this examination. Self-examination must always
drive the true sons of God to the feet of Christ, to sue for
mercy, because we are made aware that all of our righteousness
is as filthy rags in his sight. Yet by grace we are given eyes
to behold him who is our righteousness, and to rightly discern that this
supper is a display of only that righteousness which makes us
acceptable before God. This is to rightly discern the
body of Christ as our perfect substitute, without spot or blemish. Those who look for acceptance
in anything else are those that err and turn aside from a proper
discernment of that which Christ has done and accomplished by
that which is represented in this supper. Lo, he comes with
clouds descending, once for favored sinners slain, thousand, thousand
saints attending, swell the triumph of his train, and with pleasure
magnify his awful name. Every eye shall now behold him,
robed in dreadful majesty. Those who said it nought and
sold him, pierced and nailed him to the tree. Deeply wailing
shall the true Messiah see. Every island, sea, and mountain,
heaven and earth shall flee away. All who hate him must, confounded,
hear the trump, proclaim the day. Come to judgment, come to
judgment, come away. Now redemption long expected,
see in solemn pomp appear. All his saints by man rejected,
now shall meet him in the air. Hallelujah, see the day of God
appear. So when this corruptible shall
have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on
immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,
death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy staying?
O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. If you would like
a free transcript of this broadcast, email us at forthepoor at windstream.net.