so The sands of time are sinking,
the dawn of heaven breaks. The summer morn I've sighed for,
the fair sweet morn awaits. Dark, dark hath been the midnight,
But day spring is at hand, And glory, glory dwelleth In Emmanuel's
land. O Christ, He is the fountain,
the deep sweet well of love. The streams on earth I've tasted,
more deep I'll drink above. There, too, in ocean fulness
His mercy doth expand And glory, glory dwelleth in Emmanuel's
land. Oh, I am my Beloved's and my
Beloved's mine. He brings this poor, vile sinner
into his house of wine. I stand upon his merit. I know no other stand, not even
where For he dwelleth in Emmanuel's land. The bride eyes not her garment,
but her dear bridegroom's face. I will not gaze at glory, but
on my King of Grace. Not at the crown He giveth, but
on His pierced hand, the Lamb is of the glory. of Emmanuel's land. Would you turn with me to Genesis
49? While you're turning there, remember we're going to be having
a church dinner this Sunday. And we are missing a table. And somebody's got it somewhere
you got, OK, so you can just excuse me. Oh, OK. OK. Well, we'll manage them. All
right. Just need a dessert table. OK. Genesis 49. I'd like to read verses 1 and
2. And Jacob called unto his sons
and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which
shall befall you in the last days. Gather yourselves together
and hear, ye sons of Jacob, and hearken unto Israel, your father." How merciful, Heavenly Father,
we ask that we might hear of our last days. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Now, I want you to picture in
your mind what is taking place in this passage I just read.
Jacob says, Come here, boys. I'm going to tell you what shall
most certainly happen to you in your last days. Now, I can't honestly say that
I want to know the details or the events that will lead up
to my last days, I don't want to know the trials that I have
to face. I'd really rather not be aware
of them. You know, last summer, I spent
quite a bit of time going up to Cleveland knowing of the surgery
I was going to have. I knew my esophagus was going
to be cut out, half my stomach. I knew I was going to go six
weeks without eating or drinking. And don't you reckon that stressed
me because I knew it? I thought every time I went into
Cleveland Clinic, I would feel sick. Walking up and down those
halls, knowing what was going to happen to me. And you know,
I remember just the day before, I found out what was going to
happen to me. Everything was fine. Now, I had
the sickness then. I just didn't know about it.
To be honest with you, I was a lot happier when I didn't know about it. It's easier...ignorance is bliss.
You know what I mean when I say that. I don't want to know the
trials that I have to face to get to my latter end, but I do
want to know what shall befall me in my last days." And that
word, last days, in our text, when he says, I shall tell you
what shall befall you in the last days, is the Hebrew word
that's generally translated, the latter end. The end. I want to know about my ending.
Now, right now, you and I are dwelling in something that God
has made called time. But, you know, we read in Revelation
10, verse 6, that there should be time no longer. Now, time is not going to last
forever. Now, it seems like it's been
around a long time. Thinking about this one, I'm
just thinking about this concept of time. I can remember when
I was a little boy playing in a dirt pile. And it seems so
long ago, I can remember playing on a dirt pile in new construction
in houses. And that seems like as far back
as I can remember. I feel like I've been around
a long time. As far as I can remember, I've
been around, you know, from my memory. But it's so brief. And
time is so short. And God, does not dwell in time. He is in the eternal present. There's no yesterday and there's
no tomorrow with him. He's always in the present. He says always, I am that I am. Never does he have a need to
say, I was, nor does he ever say, I will be. He is always
I am that I am. God does not dwell in time. And
one of these days, we will not either. We will be in eternity. And, you know, it's just impossible
really for us to grasp this. You know, you think of, well,
for one thing, I can't grasp not being in time. We're creatures
of time. I don't understand it. I'm talking about stuff I have
no understanding of. And the thought of eternity,
you know, think of billions and billions and billions and billions
and billions and billions of years. And that's not a drop
in the bucket. Eternity is infinite. And while we're dwelling in time
right now, in our latter end, we will be in eternity. And God
said in Deuteronomy, chapter 32, verse 29, Oh, that they were
wise and that they understood this, that they would consider
their latter end. And oh, that you and I right
now will consider our latter end. We will spend our latter
end in eternity, in either a place of indescribable
torments called hell, separated from God. And I can't even get
a hold of that, thinking about the thought of being completely
separated from God. Or we'll spend eternity in the
very presence of Jesus Christ, perfectly conformed to His in
bliss that we don't know anything about. I can't describe heaven
in any way. I mean, we see the descriptions
in the scripture, but once again, I feel like I'm so much in the
dark regarding this. But what should it profit a man
if he should gain the whole world and lose his soul? What should
a man give in exchange for his soul? Now, with that in mind,
I say, let me die the death of the righteous and let my latter
end be like His. Is that the desire of your heart?
Don't you want to die the death of the righteous and that your
latter end would be Like he is now notice in our text. I think
this is very interesting. I just couldn't get past this
first verse really. And Jacob called his sons and said. Gather
yourselves together that I may tell you that which. Shall. Befall you. In the last days. It's already
determined. And it's already fixed. He's not going to tell them what
might happen or what will happen if this contingency takes place,
but what shall befall them. That's the language. He says,
come, gather yourselves together and listen. I'm going to tell
you what has already been determined for you. It's fixed. You know, there's really no reason
to be stressed over the uncertainty of things. Because nothing is
uncertain. Everything is sure. Everything
is fixed. Everything is determined. And
I want you to think about how much time you spend and I spend stressing
over that which is uncertain to us. But really, there's no
such thing as uncertainty. God is in control of everything. Turn with me to a scripture in
Luke chapter 12 for a moment. I love this verse of Scripture,
verse 25. Which of you? With taking thought. That means
worrying. Which of you, by worrying, can
add to his stature one cubit, which actually means which of
you, by worrying, can add one minute to your life. Now, you know the answer to that
question. Now look what he says in verse 26. If you then be not
able to do that which is least, you can't add one minute to your
life. Now, if you're not able to do
that which is least, Why take your thought for the rest? Why
do you worry about anything? You know, our worrying is so
foolish. It's so, it's just stupid. I
don't know what else to call it. It's just stupid. Can't change
anything by worrying. Now, does that mean we don't
worry? Well, I wish I could say I did and I do. But it's wrong. It's unbelief. Everything is
already determined and fixed, so why worry? And listen to me.
I'm not talking about a grim, sullen resignation to fate, whether
there's nothing I can do about it. I'm not talking about that
at all. I'm talking about the joy of knowing my God is in control
and my times are in His hands. Listen to this scripture from
Psalm 31, verse 15. But I trusted in Thee, O Lord, I said, Thou
art my God, my times." Isn't this wonderful? My times,
whatever time I had in this thing called time before eternity,
my times are in Thy hands. And that's right where I want
them. This is not talking about a sullen resignation to Thanks. You know, we don't believe in
faith. We're not fatalistic. You know what? Faith is so impersonal.
Kind of like all these things fixed. No, we believe in the
personal God who controls everything. This is not fatalism. This is
faith. My times are in thy hands. Now, let me give you three reasons
why everything is already fixed. Now, that is what Jacob says to his boys, he says,
come gather yourselves together. Let me tell you what shall happen
to you in the end. What is being determined? What
is fixed concerning you toward the end? Let me give you three
reasons why everything is already fixed. And here's the first reason.
Because God, He is sovereign. He's absolutely, immutably, unchangeably
sovereign. Known unto God are all his works
from the beginning. Now, what does the sovereignty
of God mean? Preachers use this term all the time. As a matter
of fact, not everybody. Every preacher uses the term.
Every preacher will say, I believe God is sovereign. I don't know
one preacher would say, I don't believe in the sovereignty of
God. I believe he's sovereign here, maybe not there, but here.
Well, that's a denial of the meaning of the word. You're either
absolutely sovereign or you're not sovereign at all. God's sovereignty means this.
First, God has a will. There is such a thing as the
will of God. Secondly, God has the power to make sure his will
comes to pass. Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did he, in earth and sea and all deep places. Psalm 115.3,
that's David. David, where's your God? He said,
our God is in the heavens. He hath done, what he will do,
he hath done whatsoever he has pleased. Now, when we talk about
the sovereignty of God, we're not talking about his right to
do as he pleases, although he does have a right to do whatever
he pleases. We're talking about the fact that he hath done. whatsoever he hath pleased, and
everything that happens is according to his good, sovereign, perfect
will. Turn with me to Isaiah 46. This is a passage of scripture
that everyone ought to memorize this one. Well, or at least know
it. Verse 9. Remember the former things of
old, for I am God and there's none else. I am God and there's
none like me. You know, I think this is really
glorious. You know, you can't say this is like God. Or this
is like God or this is there's no one you can even compare God
to. And the attempt at comparing
him to any body or anything is idolatry. He's God. He's incomparable. He said there's none like me.
Who are you going to compare me to? Verse 10, he says, look
at this, he says, declaring the end. Remember what he said, I'm
going to tell you about your last days. Declaring the end,
what it is from the very beginning and from ancient times, the things
that are not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand and I
will do all my pleasure, calling a ravenous bird from the east,
the man that executes my counsel from a far country, yea, I have
spoken it, I will bring it to pass, I have purposed it, I will
also do it." Now, this is why everything's already determined
and fixed, because God is absolutely sovereign, and our times are
in His hands. That's a good place for Him to
be in. I just rejoice in this. But here's another reason. Why
is it that our end Our latter days, our end, our place in eternity
is already fixed. Why is that? Well, here's the
second reason. Because God is absolutely just. And He's never anything but just. He never ceases to be just. And if I'm just before Him, I'm
going to be rewarded thusly as an absolute just person. And if I'm unjust before him,
I'm going to be rewarded. Just like that, you see, God
is absolutely just now. Heaven. It's hard to say this. It's hard to say it right, I
want to say it right. If I'm a believer. I'm justified. That means I'm not guilty. That means I don't have anything
to be condemned for. That means when God looks at
me, he sees somebody without sin. Anybody here believe that? Isn't that amazing? I mean, that's just so glorious
that because of Christ, I'm with so my end is determined because
the very justice of God demands the salvation of everybody that
Christ died for. We're. Our end is determined
because God is just the end of the wicked, that person who dies
outside of Christ, that person who does not believe the gospel,
his his faith is fixed, it's not going to change because God
is just. That's that's why. Because God
is sovereign. Because God is just. But here's
the third thing. I love thinking about this. Why
is it that my faith is fixed and determined? Because salvation
is by grace. And therefore, there's nothing
I can do to mess it up. There's nothing I can do to mar
it. Look at this scripture with me. Romans chapter 4. Verse 16. Verse 16, Romans chapter 4, Therefore
it, salvation, is of faith, that it might be by grace at his complete
unmerited favor. God does not have to find a reason
in you to give it to you. There's nothing in you that moves
him to give you his grace. He does it because he's gracious.
It's his nature to be gracious. You know, I've heard people say
God must be just, but he doesn't have to be gracious. Well, he
doesn't have to be in the sense he doesn't know it's anybody, but
it's his nature to be gracious. He delights in showing grace
and showing mercy. And look what it says. Therefore,
it salvation is a faith that it might be by grace to the end
that the promise might be. What? Sure. to all the seed. That's why salvation
is by grace, the promise, that which God promised our end to
be. It's sure to all the seed. Now, this teaching of what shall
be our end does not encourage either fatalism or presumption. Now, the way we think, and here's
the way we think, when I say, well, your end's already been
determined, it's fixed, there's nothing you can do to change
it, Somebody's going to think, well, why believe? Why repent? Why seek the Lord? Why turn?
Why do anything? If everything's already determined,
if everything's already fixed, why bother to seek the Lord? I just don't see a point in it
if everything's already fixed. And every one of us have thought
that before at one time or the other when we hear something
like this. We've all thought that. But let me show you a passage
of scripture in Deuteronomy. Would you turn to Deuteronomy
chapter four? Verse 25. When thou shalt beget children
and children's children, and you shall have remained long
in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves and make a grave in
the image of the likeness of anything, and shall do evil in
the sight of the Lord thy God, to provoke him to anger. I call
heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you shall
soon utterly perish from off the land, whereunto you go over
Jordan to possess it. You shall not prolong your days,
and it shall be utterly destroyed, and the Lord shall scatter you
among the nations, and you shall be left few a number among the
heathen, whether the Lord shall lead you. And there you shall
serve God as the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which
neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. But if from thence
thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him If thou
seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul, when thou
art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even
in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt
be obedient unto his voice, for the Lord thy God is a merciful
God, he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget
the covenant of thy fathers, which he sware unto them." Now,
do you see that? It's true. Everything's already determined.
Everything's already fixed. It's foolish to deny that. That
being said, listen to me, if you seek the Lord, you will find
Him. If you call upon His name, He
will answer. We should never say, well, what's
the point in seeking if everything's determined? Well, everything
is determined. I'm not going to apologize for
that. And I'm glad it's that way. I'd be scared to death if
it wasn't that way. But that doesn't in any way discourage
me from seeking the Lord and calling upon His name. And He
promises, if you turn, I'll receive you. The Lord God is a merciful
God. So this doesn't create fatalism,
nor does it create presumption. We're made partakers of Christ.
Hebrews chapter 3, verse 6. We're made partakers of Christ
if we hold, hold on to the beginning of our confidence, steadfast
to the end. He that endureth to the end,
the same shall be saved. Now, see, this belief, this fact
from the Scripture that we're going to have a determined end,
it doesn't create fatalism and it doesn't create presumption. Now, it creates fatalism if you're
a fatalist, and it creates presumption if you're presuming. You see,
people will always take divine truth and hang themselves with
it. I like what Spurgeon said. He
said, One man is going to hang himself with a rope. Does that
mean I'm going to get rid of all rope? No. I mean, we still need the
rope. And if somebody abuses it, there's
nothing we can do. The goats are going to do that, but God's
people will not. So I'm not worried about the
goats. I'm really not. I'm worried about the sheep.
I'm not worried about the sheep. The Lord could take care of them,
but that's who we... whatever I'm saying. The end is coming. When time will no longer be,
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, 24, then cometh the end. Now,
I don't want to spend a lot of time on this, but we need to
consider the end of the wicked. Would you turn with me to Psalm
73? I love this Psalm. David says in verse one, truly
God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.
But as for me, David says, my feet were almost gone. My steps had well nigh slipped. Now, David said, I got in a bad
way. I mean, I got in a bad way. Now, what happened, David? He
says, I was envious of the foolish when I saw the prosperity of
the wicked. For there are no bans in their death, but their
strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men, neither
are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride compasses them
as a bat, as a chain. Violence covers them as a garment.
Their eyes stand out with fatness, and they have more than their
heart could wish. They're corrupt, and they speak wickedly. Concerning
oppression, they speak loftily. They set their mouth against
the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. Therefore,
his people return hither, and waters of a full cup are wrung
to them. And they say, How does God know? And is their knowledge
in the Most High? Behold, these are the ungodly
who prosper in the world. They increase in riches. David
says, Verily, I cleanse my heart and vein and wash my hands in
iriscy. For all day long have I been plagued and chastened
every morning. Now, if I say I'll speak thus,
behold, I should offend against the generation of my children.
David knows what he's saying is wrong. And he said, When I
thought to know this, it was too painful for me until I went
into the sanctuary of God. Then understood I their end. Surely these people who have
it so seemingly good, thou did set them in slippery places. Thou castest them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation,
as in a moment they are utterly consumed with terrors as a dream
when one awaketh. So, O Lord, when Thou awakest,
Thou shalt despise their image." The torments of the wicked in hell are eternal. And when the believer is glorified
and this flesh is dropped, we will be fully reconciled to what
God does. Now, I can't possibly understand
this right now. I believe it. I know it. But
I don't understand this right now. But I know that when I'm
in a glorified state and I see God cast the wicked into hell,
there will be no tears in heaven over the destruction of the wicked.
Scripture teaches that. Turn with me for a moment to
Revelation chapter 19. Now, we can't enter into this right now.
There's no way we can enter into it. But we will then. Revelation 19, verse 1. And after these things, I heard
a great voice of much people in heaven saying, Alleluia. salvation
and glory and honor and power unto the Lord our God, for true
and righteous are his judgments. For he hath judged the great
whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath
avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And again they said,
Alleluia, and her smoke rose up forever and ever, the eternal
torment And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell
down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Alleluia,
Alleluia. And a voice came out of the throne
saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear
him, both small and great. And I heard, as it were, the
voice of a great multitude, and the voice of many waters, and
the voice of mighty thundering, saying, Alleluia, for the Lord
God omnipotent reigneth. Now that's the believer's response
to God's judgment of the wicked. Now, there isn't anything that
troubles me more of all the things in the Scripture than thinking
about hell. It just always has bothered me. But one of these
days, when I see things as I ought to see them, all I'll be able
to do is praise God for that. But then there's the end of the
righteous. I love this verse of Scripture. In Psalm 37, verse
37, David said, Mark the perfect man. Well, who's perfect? Every believer. Perfect in the
Lord Jesus Christ. He hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified. Now you mark the perfect man. And behold, the upright for the
end of that man is peace. Now, what I'd like for us to
do is take a look at the end of the righteous. Let's look
at him on his deathbed. The time has come for him to
die. And the confidence that he has does not come to him from
his personal works in any way. I remember one time talking to
a preacher and he said, my enjoyment of heaven will be dependent upon
my personal obedience here on earth. And I looked at that guy and
I said, if I believe that, I'd have a nervous breakdown. And you know, he got real silent.
And the conversation was over. Come to find out. He had a nervous
breakdown. He really had, but I understand
it. You know, if I believe that,
I would just be miserable. Now, facing death. Here's my
hope. Here's the hope of every believer,
like David, his dying words. You remember what David said?
Second Samuel 23, 5. Let me quote the scripture to
you. Wonderful scripture. Although my house be not so with
God. Yet. There's two words that go
together real well. Although. Yet. Although my hath be not so with
God, yet hath He made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things and sure. And this is how much of my salvation? All my salvation. And all my
desire, I don't want to be the other way. Though he maketh it
not to grow. Now there he lies to take possession
of his mansion in the skies. That's figurative language. I
realize that. But the dwelling place that he
prepares to enter is infinitely greater than the greatest dwelling
place here upon Earth. Turn with me for a moment to
John 14. Here's the believer's hope. in
death. And the only way to honestly
read this, these first three verses of John 14, is to also
read the last verse of John 13. Jesus answered him, Peter, will
you lay down your life for my sake? Peter said he would, and
he meant it when he said it. He really believed he would.
He said, I'll never deny you. I'll lay down my life for your
sake. Peter really believed he would.
And the Lord says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, the cock shall
not crow till you have denied me three times. Let not your heart be troubled. How can that be? You're going
to deny me three times and yet he says, let not your heart be
troubled. How is that? Well, let's go on
reading. You believe in God? Do you believe God is sovereign? I am too. Believe also in me.
Do you believe God is holy? I am too. I'm God. Believe also
in me. Whatever you believe regarding
God, his character, his awesome majesty, that's who I am. Believe
also in me. Now, look what he says next in
verse two. In my father's house are many mansions. I know what we think of when
we think of mansions, but that's a good thing to think, I suppose.
He said, if it were not so, I would have told you and I go to prepare
a place for you. Now, you know, he's not saying
I'm going to tidy up the place and get it ready for you. He's
saying I'm going to the cross to prepare this place for you. So this mansion is going to be
yours. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that
where I am, there you may be also. You see, the believer has
an expected end. It's already been determined,
it's already fixed, and it's expected. And if you're worried
about how you're going to handle death, when the time comes, well,
the Lord will give you grace to deal with it then. Well, I'm
worried I won't have it. Well, you don't need it yet,
but you'll get it when you need it. I know you will. You may
be afraid right now, but the Lord will give you exactly what
you need. He always does. The believer
hasn't expected in because of what Christ did. Listen to this
scripture from Jeremiah 29, 11. For I know this is God speaking. For I know the thoughts that
I think toward you, sayeth the Lord. What do you think the Lord
thinks of you when he thinks of you? What's he think? Listen to the
rest of the scripture. Thoughts of peace. and not of
evil, to give you an expected end. Now, the believer closes
his eyes in death and his latter end has begun. And we know from
what the Lord said to the thief. Remember what the Lord said to
the thief? Today, thou shalt be with me in paradise. Now, what is going to happen
to the believer on his latter end? Let me give you these four
things. First, he's going to stand before
God in judgment and be justified. Not guilty. Now, if I can think of plenty
of sins in the last 24 hours. That I feel guilty about. I can't
get away from that. I mean, it's all something there's
always something I feel bad about, I've never had a My conscience
is clear. Mine's not. Never has been. Never has been. And I kind of
hold suspect the person who says their conscience is clear. You
know, I'd be quite frank, I don't believe you. Don't believe you.
But at any rate, this is the heritage of every believer. When
they close their eyes in death, they're going to stand before
God not guilty. And justification. Understand
this about justification. It's not just a clean covering
on the outside, but you're still ugly on the inside. If I'm justified,
I'm cleansed through and through. I stand before God without guilt. Can you imagine that? Standing
before God with nothing to feel guilty about? I can't even imagine
it. But that is the heritage of every
believer. That's what justification is. Who shall lay anything to
the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who is He that can condemn? It's
Christ that died. That's the only answer I need.
It's Christ that died. Yea, rather, that's risen again,
who's even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession
for us. Jude 24 says we will be presented
before the throne of His glory. Listen to this. Faultless. Faultless. And not only will my end be faultless,
every believer will also be perfectly conformed to the image of Jesus
Christ. This was God's great purpose
and predestination for whom he did foreknow. He also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of His Son, and when I close
my eyes in death, I'm going to experience that. I'm going to
be exactly like Jesus Christ. When I think of His character,
His holy, beautiful, glorious character, my character is going
to be His. Now, what a lighter end! perfect
conformity to the image of Christ. John said this in 1 John 3 verse
2. He said it does not yet appear
what we shall be. And this scripture means so much
to me. John's writing under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit. You want to talk about inspiration.
And yet he says we have no idea what it is we're going to be.
But we do know this. When he shall appear, we shall
be like him. For we shall see him as he is. We will be perfectly conformed
to the image of Jesus Christ. Thirdly, for the first time,
when we close our eyes in death, for the very first time, we shall
be satisfied perfectly. And there will be no sin to mar
that satisfaction. David said in Psalm 1715, ask
for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. I'll be satisfied
when I awake in thy likeness for the first time and for the
rest of eternity. We will experience complete and
perfect satisfaction. Here's the last thing I want
to say. We shall be in His presence. Knowing Him. Now, how well do
you feel like you know the Lord Jesus Christ? How well do you
feel like you know Him? I know Him. But I don't feel like I know
it very well. Paul put it this way in 1 Corinthians
13, for now we see through a glass darkly. Don't you find that true? But then, face to face. Now, I know in part, my knowledge
is so partial, so minuscule, so limited. Now, I know in part,
but then shall I know even as also I am known. Better is the end of a thing
than the beginning thereof. And truly, a good name is better
than precious ointment. That's the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And the day of one's death is better than the day
of one's birth. It is, isn't it? Believer, now
is our salvation nearer than when we believed. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for our
latter end. And Lord, we Lord, while we're here in this
thing called time, we ask that you give us grace to give ourselves
to your glory. Lord, we pray for the salvation
of our children, of everybody you're bringing this way, according
to your will. But Lord, how we rejoice to know
that we have an expected ladder in because of what Thy blessed
Son has done for us. I bless this message for Your
glory and for our good. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.