Well, you know, those of you
that have had little children, you might even remember being
a little child, but do you remember having nightmares as a child? Do you remember being irrationally
frightened in the night? You know, waking up terrible,
oh dreadful, there's nasty things in the bedroom and it scares
you to death and you have these utterly irrational fears, you
know, and then what happens is you call out And mum or dad comes
in and comforts you. And their presence, oh, I'm not
alone. There are not monsters in the
room. There are not things to frighten me and do harm to me.
Mum and dad are there. And there's comfort in that.
The parent's presence reassures the child. Well, in the same
way, child of God. Believer, do you fear the unknown? We walk through this world which
seems so full of uncertainty. Do you fear the unknown? What
will happen? What's going to happen later
today, tomorrow? We've no idea in this physical
world what's going to happen. And it seems as though things
are getting worse and worse. And we live, as the scriptures
say, in perilous times. Perilous times shall come, and
indeed those times have come. Do you fear the future? Are you
anxious? Even though you're a believer,
are you anxious? Does your world seem filled with
darkness, like the child in that darkened room at night, waking
up and being afraid of the dark? The world around us, the world
of religion around us especially, regards true believers as insignificant,
having absolutely no significance at all. They regard true believers
as illogical, running completely contrary to everything else that
the world believes, all of its theories, all of its philosophies,
all of its ideas of right and wrong. To them, it's as if we believe
that the world is flat and not round. It's as balmy to them
as that. We're completely off the scale
of sanity, flat earthers. We're irrational, and they ignore
us, and in some parts of the world, even to the point of violent
persecution and even death. And all of these things cause
anxiety. And at times, we can only see
thick mist. Do you remember my illustration
of the Swiss Hotel and the mist and the beautiful day last week? But we hear the words of our
Lord and Savior in Luke 12, 32. Fear not, little flock. Don't
be afraid. It's the Father's good pleasure
to give you his kingdom, to bring you into his kingdom. Don't be
afraid of these unknown things. And the book of Revelation, the
last book of the Bible, is like the comforting visit of the parent
to the fearful child in the night. To the child of God, it's the
comforting visit of the parent to the child. It gives us a sight
through the thick mist that surrounds us, into the clear day of God's
eternity. Do you remember that verse? The
things that you think you can see, these are just temporary.
The things which are unseen, the things which are through
the thick mist of the ignorance of this world, in eternity, in
the glorious daylight of eternity, they're the things that are eternal.
They're the real things, they're the enduring things. This which
seems so solid, the scriptures assure us. is going to end, is
going to be burnt up, is coming to an end. And we're comforted
and assured by the fact that Christ is here and he is coming
again. In the midst of all of these
uncertainties, the child of God is assured by the word of God
and especially this book of Revelation. Christ is here and he is coming. seven visions of the book of
revelation. I gave you the outline last week, how they run through
all of the chapters right to the very end, chapter 22. And
the first one is in the first three chapters. Christ is in
the midst of the church in the world. His church in this wilderness
world, Christ is in the midst of it. And that's the vision
that we get. When all seems dark, the assurance
that this first vision gives us is that Christ is not something
theoretical, something historical, something full of moral lessons
and examples. No, he's alive. You know the
charismatics sing, he's alive, he's alive, he is risen, and
I just wonder, I doubt whether any of them know what they're
really singing. But what this book says to us is Christ is
alive. He really is now. He's here. He said where, I know we comfort
ourselves because we're so small in number very often, but he
said where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am
I in the midst. He is here with us at this time. And via John, the Apostle John,
our brother, he calls himself that, Verse 9, I, John, who also
am your brother. You see, there's no arrogance,
there's no haughtiness, there's no lording it with the Apostle
John. Verse 9 of Revelation 1, I, John,
who also am your brother. Brothers and sisters, if your
trust is in Christ, here's the Apostle John, the oldest, the
last living Apostle, saying, he is our brother and companion
in tribulation, in trouble, for the cause of Christ, for the
word of God. He is there in our midst. And
He brings us, God gave this vision via Him. And what I want us to
see this morning in this first chapter, who is Christ? Where is He now? What is He doing? Just those simple three things.
Who is Christ? Where is he now? And what is
he doing? And when I say three simple things,
I couldn't be further from the truth, could I? Because they're
the most profound things. You know, what's that hymn say?
How shall I sing the majesty? Which angels? I just can't do
it. I'm just not going to scratch the surface. I'm not going to
get close. But God bids us to come and have
a look. Who is Christ? Who is he? Who
is the one that we call Jesus Christ? How does his presence
assure, reassure his people, comfort his people? You need
to know who someone is to know what they're able to do. don't
you? Very often we make the wrong
assumptions about who people are. I'm going to embarrass Christine
now by reminding her of something that happened 40 odd years ago
when she first got a job in Liverpool. And she'd just started this job
and this man came up to her, obviously somebody else that
worked in the organisation, and he said, hello, you know, he
said, what do you think of it so far? And she told him, there
were all sorts of things wrong, it was a terrible place to work,
and she told him exactly what was wrong with it. And she discovered
after the event he was the chief executive of the organization.
If only she'd known, she might not have said, but she didn't
know. You know, if you're working on projects in business, you
need to know who has the power to make things happen, don't
you? You really do. You're fighting a lost cause
if you don't know who has the power to make things happen.
That's what it's like for us as believers. Do you know the
one who has the power to make things happen? Who does make
all things happen? This is what it is. This is knowing
Jesus Christ. Look at verse 4. Verse four, John, to the seven
churches which are in Asia, grace be to 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. Seven churches, why? I mean, it actually names them.
They were historical places. They're all in Turkey, modern
day Turkey. Ephesus, some of you have been
there. Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia. Laodicea. They're all real places in Turkey.
You can go and visit the historical sites where these churches were.
He's not just writing to those seven churches at that time.
Seven is perfect. The number of God's perfection.
He's writing to his church in all ages. When he talks about
the seven churches, he includes us. and everybody else who owns
the name of Jesus Christ, who calls on the name of Jesus Christ,
who calls on the Lord, the seven churches, and look what he sends,
grace and peace be unto you. This is the word of God to his
people, grace and peace, not anger. What does God say? You know, the false gospel of
Arminianism says, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for
your life. No, it doesn't. The word of God says this to
unbelievers. The word of God says this, God
is angry with the wicked every day. That's what the word of
God says. Who are you going to believe?
Peddlers of a false gospel or the truth? God is angry with
the wicked every day, but to his people. to those who trust
Him, who believe Him, He says grace and peace. The grace which
brings salvation, the peace which salvation brings. The grace which
brings salvation comes from the heart of God, from the love of
God in eternity. And the peace that salvation
brings is the peace of a satisfied law, of satisfied justice, of
an offended God whose anger is turned away, propitiated, grace
and peace, from the unchanging eternal God, from Him which is
now, He is, God, the same God, now is upholding all things,
by the word of the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was, In
the past, he's the God of Abraham, and he's our God now, through
all ages, and is to come the one who shall be until this world
ends and into all eternity. He is God. He is sovereign. He is omnipotent. He is creator. He is sustainer. He is judge. He is holy. He dwells in unapproachable
light. He is the unknowable God in his
spiritual essence. and he's ministered to his people.
Look, from the seven spirits which are before the throne,
he's ministered to his people through seven spirits. Is that
seven Holy Spirits? No, there's only one Holy Spirit
who is God, co-equal with the Father and with the Son. The
one Holy Spirit, why does he say seven spirits here? This
one Holy Spirit of God is seen in his perfection, seven, and
his ministration, His perfection of ministration to God's believing
children. When Christ said he would go
away, in John 16, he said, if I don't go away, I won't be able
to send the Comforter to you. But if I go away, I shall send
the Comforter, the Holy Spirit to you. And why seven? Because
it gives us this idea of wherever we are, we're meeting here. Others
are meeting in different places in this country. Others have
already met in other parts of the world, to the east, to the
west of us. Others will meet later today. But wherever we
are, by that ministration of that perfect Spirit of God, His
people know and experience and sense grace and peace from Him
and from Jesus Christ. Verse 5, and from Jesus Christ,
from Jesus Christ. Who is Jesus Christ? That name,
I know it's used as a blasphemy, I know it's used as a curse,
on the lips you hear it every day all around you, it's the
greatest offense to believing people, to hear that name used
as a curse. Jesus Christ, who is he? Christ
is Messiah. The Messianic Saviour, the Promised
One of the Old Testament, that Jesus Christ, the Messiah of
the Old Testament, is come in the flesh as a man. Call His
name Jesus. Why? For He shall save His people
from their sins. Jesus Christ is the Messianic
Saviour of His people. from the judgment of God, from
the consequences of their sin, for He has taken it, made it
His own, and paid for it to the full, to the uttermost, saved
to the uttermost from Jesus Christ. He is the manifestation of the
unknowable God. We cannot know God, but He's
the manifestation of God to His people. Who are His people? Those
who believe Him. Those who believe Him. Those
who hear Him. Those who hear Him, not just
hearing sounds, but those who hear and take notice. Those who
are all ears to what He has to say. You know, there's things
we take notice of, and there are other things that we don't
take much notice of. But those who are the hearers of God's
Word take notice of Him. I read this morning in I forget
where it was that I read it. It was somebody's bulletin, I
think it was, of a missionary who was trying to find the words
for obedience. And it's in a little piece written
by Henry Mahan. He said, how can I translate
this word into the language of these people, obedience? And
as he was walking along, He had a dog. I think this is how it
went. He had a dog and he called his dog and his dog, although
it was interested in something else, pricks up its ears and
comes immediately. Oh, the people walking their
dogs around this area in the woods would have dogs that would
listen to their masters when they call them, but many of them
don't. And I ended up with mud all over my shirt the other day
because one of them, despite the owner yelling and shouting
at him, the dog came bounding up to me and jumped up all over
me and covered me in mud. This dog did exactly what its
owner said. And one of the old natives sitting
by said, ah, that dog is all ears in the local language. He
said, the dog is all ears. And the man, the missionary said,
that's the word for obedience. The dog is all ears, obedience. We hear, we're all, you know,
other things are going on, but we hear the master speak. And
like the dog, the faithful dog, that's the thing to listen to.
All ears, prick up your ears. He is the manifestation of the
unknowable God to his believing, obeying, hearing people. We know what his word says, I
quote this to you so many times, you should know it off by heart.
In the beginning, this is the same apostle writing his gospel,
in the beginning was the Word, capital W, and the Word was with
God. The Word is the manifestation.
of the thoughts. Can I put it that way? You know,
as my speech now, you're hearing my words, and it's the manifestation
of what's going on in my head, the thoughts in my head. Christ
is the Word of God. He's the manifestation of the
essence of God. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the
beginning with God. All things were made by Him.
Without Him was nothing made that was made. And then verse
14 of the same chapter. The Word was made flesh. The Word, who is infinite God,
dwelling in unapproachable light, the manifestation of the essence
of God, became flesh. God contracted to a span. Wonderfully
made man, what he wasn't before. And we beheld his glory, says
John. We who walked with him, we beheld his glory, the glory
as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And verse 18, no man has seen
God at any time. The only begotten Son, this Word
of God, who is with the Father and is God, He has declared Him. He has manifested Him. He has
made Him known. At the end of John's Gospel,
John 20 verse 31, writing about the Scriptures and the things
that are written in the Scriptures, he said, these are written, he
said, there's so much that it would fill all the books in the
world. It's an unfathomable depth is the wisdom of God manifested
in the Lord Jesus Christ. He said there wouldn't be enough
books in the world to contain it all, but what is written in
the scriptures, these are written that you might believe that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God. And listen, you know, you can
believe that Henry VIII was a king of England who had eight wives.
You can believe that makes no difference to your life whatsoever.
But this, you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son
of God, and that believing, you might have life through his name. That you might have life through
his name. This is God. Our Lord Jesus Christ,
who is he? God become man to redeem, to
pay, to pay for the salvation, who came in humility. Philippians,
Paul tells the Philippians, chapter 2, verse 5, who let this mind
be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form
of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God. He took
nothing away from God in claiming deity. He was God. In the beginning
was the Word. The Word was with God and the
Word was God. But he laid all of that glory to one side that
he might be humbled. He became a man. He was born
in humility. He was born in a cowshed, in
poverty. He ran from those who were seeking
to kill him. He was persecuted, he was reviled,
he was spat upon, he was cruelly treated. He who did no wrong,
he who never ever did any wrong, came in humility, that he might
be obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. You know, there's death and there's
the death of the cross. The death of the cross was regarded as
the most shameful, cursed death to die in the Roman Empire at
the time. Obedient, even unto death, the
death of the cross. In his flesh, he was a real man. He was tempted in all points,
as we are, yet without sin. And although he was contracted
to a span and inhabited a body and was in one place at a time
in his manhood, He was infinite in scope, for He was perfect.
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And He, who
was the infinite, infinite Son of God, the infinite substitute
of His people, was made the sin of His people. I don't understand
how. I just hear it in the Word of
God, and I believe it. Bless God for it. He was made
sin, to be found guilty of it, to be judged guilty of it, to
be judged responsible for it, to pay its penalty in full. And
what was its penalty? His life. For the soul that sins
it shall die. And he poured out his life blood.
All the way, his blood was shed. that the law might be satisfied
regarding the sins of his people. He was judged guilty. He paid
the penalty of the sins he was made. He was made those sins
even though he didn't ever commit those sins. He was made them
for the purpose of God judging him guilty and charging all of
it to him, an injustice, perfect justice. How could God have punished
him if he would not been found guilty of those sins? He was
made those sins. I stress, he never committed
one of them, but he was made them in the purposes of God.
And being made them, he was found guilty and judged and condemned
as a result of them. And he bore the penalty of them
in his own body on the tree, satisfying justice, divine justice,
in the place of those whose sins they were by commission, the
people who had actually committed them. The divine justice should
have no condemnation to pronounce on those whose sins were paid
for in Christ. For there is now, therefore,
no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. And that's
exactly what verses 5 and 6 say. Look. 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, and to him that
loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath
made us kings and priests unto God and his Father. To him be
glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. He is the one who
loved us. He loved us. He's the one who
loved us before the beginning of time with an everlasting love.
He washed us from the stain and the filth and the dirt of sin.
And the liquid, the solvent that he used to wash us was his own
blood, washed us from our sins in his own blood. And because
of that, making us clean, he's made us kings and priests in
his kingdom to God for the service of God. He's the faithful witness
The faithful witness. Jesus Christ, who is the faithful
witness, verse 5. He is the one who came down from
infinite glory. He is the one that we should
hear. Hear him who came down from glory. He is the faithful
witness. He is the prophet of God to his
people. He's our prophet, priest, and
king, but he is our prophet. John chapter 14, where he says,
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the
Father but my me. And Philip says, show us the
Father and that will suffice. That's all we want to see. And
Jesus says, Philip, have I been so long with you and yet you
have not known me? He who has seen me has seen the
Father. Have you seen him? Because if
you've seen him, in a glimpse of his glory, you've seen the
Father, you've seen the essence of God. Look at John 17. John's
gospel, same apostle, 17, and the first five verses. Look at
this. John chapter 17, verse 1. These
words spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said,
and this is the night before he went to the cross, Father,
the hour has come. glorify thy son, that thy son
also may glorify thee." You know that God said, I am the Lord
and my glory will I not share with another. Didn't he? God
said that. God said, I will not share my
glory with another. And here is a man saying, Glorify
me, give me your glory that I may also glorify you. Verse two,
as thou hast given him power, the Son has power over all flesh. This Jesus Christ has power over
all flesh. Oh, who's got power over all
flesh? The leaders of this world? The more we look at them, the
more impotent to do anything they appear, don't they? As world
history rolls on, the more utterly impotent they appear. But our
Lord Jesus Christ has been given by the Father power over all
flesh Power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to
as many as thou hast given him and this is life eternal that
they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom
thou hast sent I have glorified thee on earth. I have finished
the work which thou gavest me to do and now O Father Glorify
thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee
before the world was Is this not true God? Is this not the
true God? This is the grace of God shown
to us in Christ. In our Lord Jesus Christ we read
in Psalm 85 and verse 10, mercy and truth are met together. Things
which, you know, the truth of sin is one thing, and the mercy
of God is another thing, and how can they be reconciled? How
can they meet? They can only meet in one place,
and that's in Jesus Christ, in the Messiah. Righteousness and
peace. Righteousness, which demands
justice, which demands condemnation, and peace, which says, let him
go free, for I have found a ransom. They meet together. Where do
they meet? In the Lord Jesus Christ. So God is just and justifier. All of God is faithfully witnessed
in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the first begotten from
the dead. He's not the first one to be
raised, there were others that were raised, Elijah raised people
from the dead, and he himself did, but they were all resurrections
to live and then die again as people. But he was the first
that was raised to immortality. He's the first begotten from
the dead. He was raised by his own power.
He said, I have power to lay down my life and power to take
it up again. And he's the firstfruits in that. He's the first one, which is
a pledge of the fact that all of his believing people will
rise in him to that eternal life. He's the prince. He's the prince,
it says here. He's the prince of the kings
of the earth. God has highly exalted him, Philippians
2, 9 to 11, and given him a name which is above every name of
all the kings of the earth, that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow, of things in heaven and things in earth and things
under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that he
is Lord to the glory of God the Father. He came in humility,
but now he's highly exalted. Verse 8, He's the Alpha and the
Omega, verse 11. He's the Alpha and the Omega,
verse 17. He's the First and the Last.
The Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning,
the Supreme, the Cause and Ending of everything. All that exists,
exists because of Him. This is Sovereign, Omnipotent
God. This is what John says in his
epistle, chapter 5 and verse 20. And we know that the Son
of God is come and hath given us an understanding, that we
may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even
in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and life
eternal. He's the Son of Man, verse 13.
One standing like the Son of Man. The Son of Man, the God-Man
Redeemer. That's what He called Himself
more than anything else in His earthly ministry. Our Lord Jesus
Christ called Himself the Son of Man. And we see Him here glorified
in heaven, looking into this eternal glory, this glorious
eternal daylight. He's robed as High Priest. He
has white hair, which speaks of His eternality. He's the Ancient
of Days, the same vision that Daniel had, Daniel 7 verse 9.
He's the Ancient of Days, the Eternal God. And although we
see Him in the Song of Solomon with dark rich dark hair, speaking
of his youth and vitality. Here he's seen in his eternality.
This is the eternal God that John saw, and that he shows to
us. He has all-seeing eyes. He has
strong feet of brass, down here in verses 13, 14, and 15. He
has a loud gospel voice, a voice of many waters. And in his hand,
in his right hand, he has seven stars. And we know what they
are. The stars Verse 20, are the angels of the seven churches.
What does angel mean? It means messenger. They're the
preachers. The preachers of his church.
The preachers to his people. The preachers are in his hand. They're his instruments. They're
called by him. They're not made by Bible schools. They're not made through an apprenticeship.
They don't go to see somebody else so that they learn how to
get better at it. They're in His right hand. He
makes His people preachers. He calls them out. He holds them.
He uses them. And out of His mouth goes a sharp
two-edged sword. What do we know that is? The
Word of God. The sharp two-edged sword we know from Ephesians
chapter 6 is the Word of God. The sword of the Spirit, which
is the Word of God. He is the Son of Righteousness,
gleaming in His strength. Malachi chapter 4 verse 2, And
to you that fear My name shall the Son of Righteousness arise.
Has He arisen to you like the sun is gleaming through the windows
this morning? Look, it says here that His countenance
was as the sun shineth in his strength. You cannot look at
that object out in the sky this morning. You would blind yourself
if you did. And it says, his countenance
was as that sun. And the response of John when
he saw this, when he saw this one, verse 17, when I saw him,
I fell at his feet as dead. My life as it were drained from
me. It drained from me. This is God,
all-powerful, sovereign, omnipotent. Now then, where is Christ now? Where is Christ now? Verse 13. In the midst of the seven candlesticks,
one light unto the Son of Man. He's in the midst of seven golden
candlesticks. What do candlesticks do? Do they
give light? No. No. The candles give light. The candles that go in them give
light. They just hold the light that they are given. And the
candlesticks? What are the candlesticks? Last
words of the chapter. The seven candlesticks which
thou sawest are the seven churches. The candlesticks are the holders
of the light of God that he gives. And that's us. All the churches. All churches holding the light
of God's truth in the gospel of his grace are these seven
golden candlesticks. And where is this glorious Lord
Jesus Christ? Where is this glorious sovereign
God who is our Redeemer? He's in the middle of his people,
in the middle of his church. That's where he is now. Fearful little flock of Christ,
don't be anxious for anything. Why? The sovereign of the universe
is here. in the midst of all his churches,
all his true churches, not those that call themselves churches,
those that believe his gospel and obey his word and hear his
voice. And so I think I quoted it last week, but it's worth
quoting again. Psalm 23 and verse 4. Yea, though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Why not?
For thou art with me, the sovereign God of the universe. Thy rod
and thy staff, they comfort me. Worldwide and locally, His presence
experienced by the seven spirits sent forth, the Holy Spirit in
all the perfection of his ministration, in large assemblies and in very
small, where two or three are gathered in his name." And can
I just put in an aside here, when you see that, The two or
three gathered in his name applies to people who are true believers
in situations where there are only two or three gathered in
his name, and that they cannot physically, reasonably get to
somewhere where there are more. But if there are any who hear
this, who are meeting where there are just two or three, and there
is the true gospel being preached, within, I don't know, a reasonable,
whatever you count reasonable, distance of you, you should be
there. Because the word of God says, forsake not the assembling
of yourselves together as is the manner of some. There, I've
said my piece. But nevertheless, where two or three genuinely,
sincerely are gathered in his name, however small, he's there. He's there in the midst of his
candlesticks. He who is God makes his abode
with his people. He says, I shall be their God
and they shall be my people. This is real. You know, this
is not academic. This is real. Believer, this
is the living God who upholds all things is now by his spirit
in the midst of us. Did you know that as I, such
an earthen vessel, are speaking these words of truth from his
word, did you know that the angels in heaven are looking into this?
That's what the word of God tells us. The angels desire to look
into these things. Is that not an amazing thing?
To think. If you could see through this
thick mist of this world, and its philosophies, into the eternity
of glory of the presence of God, you would see that. The angels
are looking into what men like me are preaching on this day.
Because it concerns Christ. And they love it. They're mystified
by it. They're enthralled by it. They're
amazed by it. Now, this confidence is what
has inspired all the martyrs. You read the accounts of the
martyrs. You read the Scottish Covenanters and Fox's martyrs
and all these things and you wonder, where on earth did they
get their resolution from? And it's because of this. God
gave them such a sight. of who was holding their hand,
of who was with them, of the fact that it doesn't matter what
man can do to me. You can't do anything. In God have I put my
trust. I will not be afraid of what
man can do to me. Psalm 56 verse 11. That's the
testimony of martyrs. Why? Because they know Him. Him,
who is God. They know Him, who is in the
midst of His candlesticks. No. And what is He doing now?
I must get to this. I know we've only got a couple
of minutes left. But verse 7, because this is the title of
the message. Behold, He cometh with clouds. Behold. Behold says this to us. Behold says this. It says, you
and me On the 27th of September, 2015, thinking things are going
to go on forever, it says, look now! Behold, he is in the process
of coming. It doesn't say he will come,
it says he is in the process of coming. And finally, he will
come to end all things in this present age of space and time.
He is not slack concerning his promise. You know, Peter addressed
this, 2 Peter chapter 3, verses 8 and 9. Beloved, be not ignorant
of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand
years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack
concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering
to usward, to his people, not willing that any of his people
should perish, but that all his people, his elect people, should
come to repentance. I know I've added in words there,
but I'm confident of the license to do that, because that's what
the rest of the word of God says. We're here because all of his
elect have not yet been called in. But don't think that God
is delaying. He's not. He's in the process
of coming. All things, all history, all
world politics, all natural processes are moving unstoppably to this
great culmination when Christ, who is glorious God, comes again. And he comes with clouds. Clouds
in the scriptures, I'll skip over this quickly, they speak
of glory. I could give you several references, but I won't. And
his second coming is not like his first when he came in humility,
but his second coming is when he comes in triumph. and glorious judgment. He's not
coming the second time to redeem his people, but to claim his
redeemed possession and take them to be with him. Not to suffer
the scorn of sinful men, but to judge them in righteousness.
That's why he's coming. That's what he's doing now. And
when he finally comes, when he comes, when his present coming
reaches its glorious end, for it's a process that's going on,
we read here, every eye shall see Him. Every eye shall see
Him. Oh, well, I choose not to believe
this. It doesn't matter, you will see Him. Every eye shall
see Him. All who have rejected Him, all
who have scorned Him, all who have violated His law and justice,
all shall see Him. This is the Omega, the ending
of His creation. no longer the suffering servant,
but the King of kings and Lord of lords, not coming in humility,
but in majesty, coming to end all rebellion in his empire,
all rebellion in his empire. He is God. He is a just God and
a Savior, and He will bring, as Isaiah 45 says, every knee
to bow to Him, and that's what we read in Philippians 2, verses
9 to 11 earlier. Whoever they are, they will all
bow and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father. This is God. You who reject him
will bow the knee to him and confess he is Lord in utter dread. Do you know how I know it's utter
dread? Turn over a page if you can, if not just listen. Chapter
6, verse 14. Now listen to this. Do you know,
if you were walking down a road on a dark night and there was
not a glimmer of light from the stars or a street light, and
there was a great big hole in the road opened up and you couldn't
see it because it was so dark, wouldn't you want me to tell
you, if I knew about it, before you stepped down it? Wouldn't
you want me to let you know? Listen to this, this is what
God says from heaven. And the heaven departed as a
scroll when it is rolled together. And every mountain and island
were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and
the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the
mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves
in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to
the mountains and the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from
the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath
of the Lamb. For the great day of his wrath
is come. and who shall be able to stand? Will you heed God's
warning? There's only one refuge, and
that's the Lord Jesus Christ. And he who is that terrible judge
says this, are you laboring and heavy laden with the burden of
sins and a burden of guilt before him? He who is this judge who
will enact exactly the righteous judgment that he comes to do,
he says to you who labor and are heavy laden, come unto me. all you who labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. You shall find rest for your
souls. And you who believe, will you
seek to live in the good of this knowledge that He is in the process
of coming, as Paul says to Titus, looking for that blessed hope
and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior,
Jesus Christ. This is a looking for believers
You know, what do people look forward to? Oh, a prosperous
career, getting a few things in this world, getting the house
sorted out, and the car, and the family, and all that kind
of thing, and having some good times together, and old age,
and failing health, and not being able to look after yourself,
and not being able to remember anything, and failing health,
and it getting worse and worse, and not being able to do even
simple bodily functions for myself, and ending up in a home, having
people have to care for me, and slowly, gradually fading away
and dying. Is that it? Is that what we have
to look forward to? Is that it? For the believer,
no. No. We look forward to the glorious
appearing, that blessed hope and glorious appearing of the
great God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. And it's a hope which
is filled with joy, and with expectation, and with yearning,
and with longing. As he says, you know what the
next to the last words in the whole scripture are? Revelation
22. Verse 20. He which testifieth
these things saith, surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come,
Lord Jesus.