Luke 21:28
But when these things begin to come to pass,
look up, and lift up your heads;
because your redemption draweth nigh.
Matthew 24:14
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole habitable earth
for a witness unto all the nations;
and then shall the end come.
Psalm 103:7
He made known His ways unto Moses,
His acts unto the children of Israel.
Dear Lord, how we praise and thank Thee that, in this perilous time, Thou hast gathered us together before Thee to prepare us for Thy imminent return.
Oh, dear Lord, we do pray that there will be real preparation in each and every one of us, that we may not only prepare to meet our dear Lord, but that we may be used by Thee to prepare the way for Thy return. What a privilege, what an honor, Thou hast called us.
O Lord, we look to Thee, that only Thy grace can enable us to answer Thy call and be truly the link that Thou art looking for in these last days.
We commit this time into Thy hands and pray that Thou wilt bless this time. Deliver us from mere mental acceptance, but enable us by Thy Spirit to enter into the reality of Thy calling. And we give Thee all the glory. In Thy precious name. Amen.
Dear brothers and sisters, I believe every one of us here is looking forward to the coming of the Lord.
By all the indications that we can see around us, we know the end is near—maybe nearer than we think. Even the world realizes that doomsday is coming. So far as the world is concerned, it is true that it will be a doomsday. But so far as we who are the Lord’s are concerned, this is the time that we can look up and lift up our heads, for our redemption has drawn nigh.
My brothers and sisters, when God is doing a work, especially in changing times and changing ages, we discover that He has a principle.
When we think of the first coming of the Lord, broadly speaking, the whole nation of Israel was waiting for the Messiah. In their temple, every day, a special prayer was offered to God: “Messiah, come.” The whole nation seemed to be waiting for the Messiah.
But strangely, when the Messiah did come, the nation and the people were disturbed and troubled. Why was this? Because they were waiting for the Messiah for their personal, private reasons. They thought that when the Messiah should come, He would deliver them from Roman rule and make them the first of the nations. That was what they were looking for in the Messiah, not knowing that God had a higher purpose.
They even rejected the Messiah as a nation. But thank God, as we find in Psalm 103, God made known His ways unto Moses, and His acts unto the children of Israel.
So far as the children of Israel were concerned, they had to wait until God acted. When they saw the action God had taken, they began to realize it and began to thank the Lord. But Moses was different, because the Bible says God made known His ways unto Moses.
In other words, when God is working, He has His way. He has His principle. And if you know the way of God, you can foresee what God will do. Not only that, you will even be used of God to bring in the act.
So, brothers and sisters, we are here this week looking to the Lord that, by His grace, we may know His ways. This is not just a mental understanding, something for us to boast of. This is very, very practical, because in His ways you will find that He is calling us to cooperate with Him.
Just as you have a locomotive, a powerful engine, but it needs railroad tracks, so what God is looking for in His people is to lay the railroad for that locomotive to run. It is a high honor, a high privilege. But thank God, it is something that God is looking for.
When you look back into history, you find that God was going to change the age from the age of law into the age of grace. It was a tremendous change.
When the people of Israel were under the law, they promised to keep it, but they could not. As we all know, for four hundred years God was silent. After Malachi, God did not speak to His people.
Even though the temple was restored, the temple service was carried on, and prayers were raised every day, outwardly speaking the nation was ready for God. But God looked upon the heart. He knew exactly what the situation was. That is the reason why, for four hundred years, God was silent.
Brothers and sisters, as we read the Bible, we thank God that He is a God who speaks. If God should be silent, nobody would know Him, because He is far, far beyond us. We know Him today, to a certain extent, because of what He has spoken. The speaking of God is revelation to us.
But God could not speak to His people because of the condition of their hearts before Him. But thank God, He is gracious. In spite of the situation of the nation of Israel, after four hundred years of silence, God began to speak—not only to speak, but to bring in the Messiah.
Unknown to the world, God had raised up some people whose hearts were totally committed to God. It was through these few that He was able to move according to His heart.
As you read the Gospel according to Luke, you find there was a couple, Zechariah and Elizabeth. They were righteous. Zechariah was a priest, and they served God faithfully. But unfortunately, they did not have a son.
In Old Testament times, one who was blessed by God would be surrounded by sons and daughters. Only those who were cursed by God would be deprived of children. In spite of the piety of this couple, and in spite of their constant prayer asking God to remove that shame from them, their prayers were not answered.
Not because God did not want to listen to them, but because God was to use them to do something far beyond their personal needs—for the need of the nation.
I personally believe that after this old couple had prayed year after year for a child, and it seemed as if God was not listening, they did not give up that prayer. I think the direction of their prayer was corrected.
Instead of praying for a son for their own benefit, they began to pray for a son who would be useful to prepare the way of the Messiah.
When Zechariah was in the temple, the lot was cast, and he had the privilege of burning incense in the holy place. This was a high privilege among the priests. Sometimes a priest might serve the Lord for years and never have that privilege. If you had that privilege once, that was all you could have.
Thank God, while he was serving in his course, the lot was cast, and he was privileged to burn incense in the holy place. While he was alone in the holy place, the people were standing outside, waiting and praying with him.
When you burn incense, of course, it typifies prayer. What was the prayer? It was the prayer of the nation: “Oh, that Messiah will come.” I believe Zechariah was praying that prayer instead of praying his private prayer.
But strangely, when the angel appeared and said, “Zechariah, your prayer has been answered,” he was not praying for his own son; he was praying for the Messiah. Yet the Lord said, “Your prayer has been answered.” Why? Because his prayer was in tune with God’s heart.
They desired an heir, not for their own enjoyment. They desired an heir to be used of the Lord to prepare the way of the Lord. Here was an old couple, unknown to man as it were, but secretly praying for the interest of God. God used them as a link for the change of the age.
At the same time, we find Mary and Joseph. Even though they were descendants of David, they were unknown, as it were, in the village of Nazareth, a hidden place. They were engaged, but they were not married.
The angel appeared to Mary and said, “You are blessed of the Lord. The Lord has chosen you to give birth to His own Son.” Of course, Mary was surprised. She said, “How can I give birth, if I do not know a man?” The angel said, “The Spirit of God will come upon you.” So what was born was of God, the Son of God.
Now this was a real challenge to Mary. Mary was a devout person. She loved God. But now she was asked to do something far beyond what any human being could do, because that meant her destruction.
Anyone who gave birth without being married to a man was considered guilty of adultery, and the law demanded her to be stoned. Even the first stone must be cast by the one she loved. It was such an unusual demand.
Yet Mary knew God. She was submissive to the very last. She was willing to sacrifice her life for God’s purpose. Thank God, God used that woman to bring in the Messiah.
We do not forget Joseph. He was a righteous man, and if he was righteous, he had to follow the law. He did not want to shame Mary publicly. He was thinking of leaving her quietly.
It was at that time that he was told that this was of the Lord. He knew the Lord so well, and he loved God so much, that he was willing to sacrifice himself to cover, as it were, Mary. Through these two, the Messiah was brought in.
Then we also think of Simeon and Anna. Even though the account is very small, from the accounts in Luke we find that both Simeon and Anna loved God. They gave their whole lives to God.
Simeon received a revelation from above that, before he died, he would see the Messiah. In other words, he was living for the Messiah, not just praying for the Messiah. His whole life was for the Messiah. Thank God, he saw the Messiah, and when he saw the Messiah, he said, “Lord, You can take my life.” That was it. He was satisfied.
So was Anna. She devoted herself to prayer, and she also was given the revelation when the Messiah came. Brothers and sisters, we find different people here and there, hidden and unknown to the world, but known to God. They were used to prepare the way of the change.
Of course, we should not forget the shepherds, because these shepherds were special. They were not ordinary shepherds; they were temple shepherds. They were shepherding those lambs that were to be sacrificed to the Lord.
In other words, they lived for God, not for their own interest. It was to them that the angel appeared to announce the glad news of the coming of the Messiah.
By looking at these few—unknown to the world, but known to God—we see that they offered their lives to be the link in bringing in the Messiah. That is the way the age of law turned into the age of grace. Of course, we cannot forget John the Baptist, but our brother will specialize on that.
If this is the case, whenever God is going to do something on earth, He will first touch a few on earth to agree with Him, to prepare the way, as it were, for Him. It is through these that the change comes.
If this is the case when the age of law was changed into the age of grace, then, brothers and sisters, in like manner we can expect that it is the same way of God that He will change from this age of grace into the age of the kingdom.
Thank God for the age of grace, which began with the first coming of our Lord Jesus. But thank God, even while He was on earth, He promised that He would come back again.
In His first coming, He was laying the foundation, as it were. Now, brothers and sisters, we often feel that our Lord Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. That is very true. He did that. But this was not all His purpose.
To seek and save the lost, so far as we are concerned, seems to be the best. There seems to be even our desire, our wish. What a privilege to be found and brought back to the heavenly Father. We thank God for that.
But, dear brothers and sisters, salvation is not according to human need. Salvation is according to God’s purpose. God had a purpose.
He did not reveal that purpose until the very last. When He was rejected by the nation of Israel, He retreated to the border of Caesarea Philippi, a Gentile city. That showed He was rejected by His own country.
It was at this almost last minute that He revealed to His disciples why He came into this world. He asked His disciples, “Who do men say that I am?” Not that He was interested to know how the world thought about Him. No. He was just trying to draw out His disciples.
His disciples would not tell Him every evil, wicked thing that people said of our Lord. They would only relate the good things. But He was not satisfied. So He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Thank God, Simon Peter, as he was moved by the Holy Spirit, confessed, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Our Lord Jesus said, in effect, “Simon Bar-jona, this was not shown to you by man.” Men can only see so far as to say that He is one of the great prophets. But only the revelation of God will show you that He is the Christ, the Sent One of God for a special mission, and that He is the Son of God.
Thank God, God revealed it to Peter, and Peter was able to confess. On that confession, our Lord Jesus said:
Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church;
and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
Brothers and sisters, after the Father revealed the Son, the Son revealed the Father’s heart. He was sent for His church. He came to build His church upon the Rock.
Even though people misunderstand this and think Peter was the rock, Peter was just a tiny stone, a piece out of the Rock. The Rock is our Lord Jesus Himself. He is the Rock of foundation.
On this Rock—that is, on Himself—He will build His church. The church is the outgrowth of the Lord Himself. The church is to bear the testimony of Jesus. The church is to complete, as it were, what Christ has done in proclaiming the victory of Christ.
But here we are also told of the tremendous conflict that is coming. The gates of Hades will all be opened, trying to prevent the church from being built. But the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. It shall be built.
Now the question is: Why is it that, after such a long time, the Lord still tarries? What is the reason behind it?
So far as our Lord Jesus is concerned, there can be no question. Even when He was on earth, before He died, He already told His disciples that He would come again to receive them to Himself. He went to prepare a place for them, mansions for them, and then He would come back and receive His people.
When you read the book of Revelation, which foretells the coming of the Lord, at the very end of the Bible, Revelation 22:20 says:
Yea: I come quickly.
That expresses the heart of our Lord Jesus. He was anxious to come back. That is the reason why, even in the first century, those who really loved the Lord were waiting for the coming of the Lord. Were they wrong? No. They were right, because the Lord could have come even at the end of the first century. He was anxious to come back to receive His bride.
The problem does not lie with our Lord Jesus. Where, then, is the problem? It has to be with us.
Do you remember Matthew 24:14? The Lord said that the gospel of the kingdom of the heavens shall be proclaimed throughout the world as a testimony to the nations, and then the end shall come.
To whom did our Lord Jesus commit this preaching of the kingdom of the heavens to the world? It is not just a matter of preaching. The preaching here means more than that. It means to live out the kingdom of the heavens on earth to the nations. And their testimony will bring in the King again.
We cannot help seeing that, even though we see things changing so rapidly all around us, and it seems as if at any time something drastic can happen, the Lord seems to be patient. He waits and waits. Why is it so? Whose responsibility is it? What is it that our Lord is really looking for?
As it was in the Old Testament, so it will be in the New Testament. Because the children of Israel failed to keep the law, finally the nation was destroyed and exiled to Babylon.
But God, in His mercy, raised up a remnant out of all those who were in Babylon. A remnant heard God’s call. They were willing to be uprooted from their well-established business houses and willing to brave the danger of the road into Jerusalem, which was in ruins.
They went back not for themselves. They went back to rebuild the temple, that the name of the Lord might still be on earth.
As you read the Bible, you find that during the Babylonian captivity, God was never called the God of the heavens and of the earth. He was only called the God of the heavens. Why? Because on earth, He had no testimony.
So these people, a remnant, went back. They rebuilt the temple and restored all the temple services, so that God might be the God not only of the heavens but also of the earth. There is the remnant principle in the Old Testament.
But when you read the New Testament, you find the overcomer principle. As you read the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, you find that toward the end of the first century John the apostle, the last of the apostles living, was exiled to the island of Patmos.
Before that, he was serving in Asia Minor among those churches there. But for the testimony of Jesus, he was exiled to the island of Patmos. There, on the Lord’s Day, he was in the Spirit, and he saw a heavenly vision.
Brothers and sisters, we know that among the apostles, John was the closest to our Lord Jesus. He was the one who lay at the bosom of Christ. He knew Christ so intimately on earth, yet he was ignorant of the ministry of our Lord Jesus in heaven.
Oftentimes we think that the ministry of our Lord Jesus on earth is all that He has done. After He said, “It is finished,” He ascended on high and sat down at the right hand of the Father. You do not sit down until work is done.
But He was as busy in heaven as He was on earth—not because the work of redemption is still unfinished. It is finished. It is because, in heaven, He is ministering to His people and ministering to His church, so that His church may mature and be fit to be the bride.
There you find Him, One like unto a Son of Man, in the midst of the seven churches of Asia. To every church He wrote a letter. Every letter began with a revelation of Himself to that particular church. In other words, this was the testimony committed to the church.
Everything in the church was to be judged according to the testimony of Jesus granted to them. Were they faithful? How did they fail? If they failed, He called them to repent.
To every church, at the end, you find the call:
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
And:
He that overcometh shall be rewarded with something in the kingdom.
So, brothers and sisters, we find the same principle but a different name. Instead of the remnant principle, we find the overcomer principle.
When the church as a whole fails, God does not give up. He still tries to restore His testimony, but through a few—through the overcomers. Whatever the overcomers have accomplished is considered as for the whole church. This is the principle of the overcomers.
The overcomers are not someone outside of the church. The overcomers are in the church. But they are the ones who maintain the testimony of Jesus entrusted to the church. What they have done results in the whole church coming to maturity. That is the principle of the overcomers.
If you read the book of Revelation, in the whole book you find how God, in different ages and different centuries, has had His overcomers. In Revelation 2 and 3, we find the overcomers at the end of the first century.
Then, when you turn to Revelation 7, from Revelation 7:9 through Revelation 7:17, you find:
After these things I saw, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could number,
out of every nation and of all tribes and peoples and tongues,
standing before the throne and before the Lamb,
arrayed in white robes, and palms in their hands;
and they cry with a great voice, saying,
Salvation unto our God Who sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb.
In Revelation 7, you find two parts. The first part, from Revelation 7:1 through Revelation 7:8, is concerned with the nation of Israel. Before Jacob’s trouble comes, God will seal those of the twelve tribes who are faithful to Him, keeping them through Jacob’s trouble.
Then, from Revelation 7:9 to the end, that refers to the church. Here you have a picture of the overcomers through the centuries: a number that cannot be numbered, out of every nation and tribe and people and tongue. They stand before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palm branches in their hands. They give glory to God.
Brothers and sisters, in spite of the failure of the church, God is always successful. In every century, He has His overcomers standing for the testimony of Jesus. These countless overcomers are there, standing before the Lamb.
Then, from there, you come to Revelation 12. I mention this only because, God willing, we are going into that tomorrow. The man child there represents the overcomers at the verge of the turning of the age.
Then you find, in Revelation 14, a view of the overcomers as a whole. They are as the firstfruits, in contrast with the harvest and also the vintage. In Revelation 15, you find the overcomers through the great tribulation. In Revelation 19, you find the bride of the Lamb.
It is very strange: as you read the book of Revelation, you find, as it were, two marriages of the Lamb. One is in Revelation 19, and the other is in Revelation 21 and 22.
What is the difference? In Revelation 19, it is before, or at the beginning of, the age of the kingdom of heaven on earth. In Revelation 21 and 22, it is eternity.
I personally believe that the wife there will be represented by the overcomers of the church through the ages. But when you come to Revelation 21 and 22, you find the consummation of all the work of God in the Old Testament time and the New Testament time.
To sum up, God’s work is always complete. Nothing will be lacking. Therefore, you find that throughout time all the work of God will be summed up in Jerusalem. That is what we find in the Bible.
So this morning is just, as it were, an introduction. Hopefully, we will really be open to the Lord and cry to the Lord that we may be those who do not just pray as a routine, but really look forward to the coming of our dear Lord.
Shall we pray?
Dear Lord, how we praise and thank Thee that we are living at the very end of the great change that is coming. Even though it is the most difficult time, as it were, yet it is the most privileged hour.
Oh, Lord, we do not want to just live for ourselves. We want to live for Thee, Lord. We want to be useful in Thy hand, that we may be those who will bring in the King.
Our cry today is, “Come, Lord Jesus. Come quickly.” In Thy name. Amen.