Bentley, Tom: Daniel Rapture And Revelation ~ 1Thes1

Now, as advertised, we come to Thessalonians in our studies, the first epistle of Paul to Thessalonians, and look at something of Paul's teaching concerning the rapture and, uh, the revelation. So let us turn, please, to First Thessalonians, and of course, chapter one, with which to begin our reading for the sake of time, at verse number nine. For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. Now some will render that very appropriately, which delivereth us from the wrath to come. Now, chapter two, verse nineteen: For what is our hope or joy or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? Or are not ye before our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? Because that word coming is really the word presence. For ye are our glory and joy. Now, chapter three, verse eleven. Now God himself and our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way unto you, and the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another and toward all men, even as we do toward you, to the end he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming or at the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. Now, the more familiar passage, chapter four, verse thirteen: But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by or in the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. Verse nine of chapter five: for God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by or through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore, comfort yourselves together and edify one another, even as also ye do. Verse twenty three. And the very God of peace sanctify you fully. And I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless under the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. Now the second epistle, please. Verse seven, chapter one. And to you who are troubled, rest with us. When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his angels, with his angels of power, or his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. I'm just going to point out, as I read this again, uh, our useful note. And to you who are troubled, rest with us in or at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven, with his angels of power in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Chapter two, verse one. Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming, by the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in your mind or be troubled, neither by spirit nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ, really the day of the Lord, is at hand. Now, further down again, please, in this, uh, second chapter, and, uh, look at verse number, number seven. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work. Only he who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness. That's a very important word in the subject. The manifestation of his coming. And again, in verse number, uh, breaking into the prayer in verse fourteen, whereunto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. And I think it's useful we read verse five of the next chapter. And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patient waiting for Christ, or as some render it, into the patience of Christ. Now the Lord bless to us the reading of his word, with which I think we're more familiar than with the passages read in nights that are past. Now, nothing cheers our hearts more than to come to the subject of the coming of the Lord Jesus. And I think it's good to notice that this establishes a principle that God has, eh, enunciated right through his whole book of divine revelation. God always sets a coming one or a coming thing before his people, so that there will be in them the highest motivation. Eve was conscious and looked forward to a coming seed. You remember the promise of Genesis three fifteen, And as she anticipated that coming seed, she really thought that her firstborn son was the answer to that promise. And of course, she was ultimately disappointed. But nevertheless, there was put in the heart of those early ones the thought of a coming seed. When we come on in the book of Genesis, we read in Hebrews eleven that Noah was warned of God of things to come and things not seen as yet. And you know that he was aware and extremely conscious that there was a coming storm, a coming storm. And then, of course, we read in the same epistle that Abraham looked for a city to come, a coming city. And then, as we come down the word of God, we are interested to notice that, of course, throughout the word of God, Israel as a nation anticipated the coming Messiah. I might have also mentioned, and I think we're well aware, that Joseph in Egypt was looking for a coming Exodus. And so, no matter what period we look at, and even as we introduce ourselves to our New Testament, we find men and women, godly in life and in lip, looking for the redemption in Israel. And when Simeon took the blessed Savior into his arms, he recognized that that person was God's salvation. This was someone to whom he was and for whom he was looking and knew that he would come. And so in our day, God has sent before us the coming of his son, the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, and surely there is nothing that motivates us more, and ought to every day, than the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ for us. And so it is a real source of motivation, and it must surely drive us in relation to this very real fact. So when I look at the, um, when I look at the promises that are made relative to the coming of the Lord Jesus, I find, as I examine the quantity of them, it's very great. There must be at least three hundred or more direct references and assurances, we'll call them promises, in relation to the coming of the Lord Jesus. We won't have time to examine the exact quantity in each of the gospels, for example, but the percentage that is given to the promise relative to the return of the Lord Jesus is indeed exceedingly high and most interesting. And then, of course, when we touch the thought of quantity, we like also to refer to the thought of quality. And the quality of his promise, of course, cannot be questioned whatsoever. Nothing is sweet, nothing is comforting. There is nothing more precious than to sit down with a distressed saint of God, no matter what the distress may be or what has caused it, and read with them and read to them those opening words with which we are so familiar in John fourteen one to three. Can we get anything more blessed and more precious in quality than the promise of the Lord Jesus Christ for his own, that he's coming for them. I will come again. I, of course, makes it real and personal. I will come makes it one day to be actual, and I will come again for you and receive you unto myself. We thank God for every strain of truth in those amazing words. And then I think of a very precious note that's struck in the Gospels, and, uh, I think it brings me great peace. At least it does my soul. And it's the quietitude of his promise. It quietens my troubled breath. It, uh, settles my feathery spirit, and it calms my inquiring mind. I don't know whether it'll do that with you or not, but I know it does it with me, and I would it had done the same to many others. You remember those words in the Gospel of Mark about the Lord Jesus coming at the first watch, or the second, or the third, or the fourth. Now, you examine that very precious word, and you'll find this most interesting. The first watch, as you know, is from six uh to nine, and I think that is very, very important in, uh, in our thoughts. And I think of that in the early period of the Acts. Now, the Lord didn't come at that period. The Lord did not come, although I firmly believe, I firmly believe that the imminency of the Savior's return was as real to the New Testament believers as it is to us at this moment of time. I think we have to accept that because imminency is a very nasty thought in the mind of those that set times and tables and have us going through the tribulation ultimately, and therefore imminency is not a word in their vocabulary. So I trust it's in yours, and I trust you recognize that in the early days there was an sense of the imminent return of the Lord Jesus Christ. I know that we could argue ourselves out of that, as many do, but it establishes the point that I have made already. It is one of God's ways of dealing with his people to set something or someone before them in that imminent sense, the coming sea, the coming storm, the coming exodus, and as you know, those people lived in the expectancy of God fulfilling his word. So now he didn't come in the first watch because it's past in the end. I would think the second watch is from nine to twelve, isn't it? And, uh, you think of those three great arms, and you think, dear saint of God, of the sub-apostolic period, and that period that extended into very, very tragic darkness, coming on into other areas and years when the light burned very, very dimly. The darkness of the night. But the Lord didn't come at that period either, as you know. And then the third watch is, of course, generally called the cock crowing. And you know that that would arouse people. You know that the cock crowing disturbs people, and you know, Saint of God, that the, uh, cock crowing has a, a very, very uneasy, a very unearthly effect when you're fast asleep. Well, thank God for those periods when mighty men of God were raised up that awakened the saints of God to reality, out of spiritual stupor, and precious truth was recovered, and much was accomplished for God through men that were raised up to stir the hearts of a sleeping church. But the Lord has not come, nor did not come in that year. Now, the only period that's left is what is called the morning. The morning. And that is where we are, isn't it? The first part is gone. The second part has gone. The third part has gone. And here we are at that stage, so near, and we feel the blessedness of it, that we're living in the tiptoe expectancy, surely, of the coming of the Lord Jesus. And so there is just a very, very short time, if that is the way to express it. But there it is, beloved. He didn't come in the first one. He didn't come in the second. He didn't come in the third. And so there's only one left, and that still continues, and we're waiting in the quietude of his promise for his soon return. Now, that would preserve me, of course, from raising the sad, the sad specter of dates. You know, I like Mr. Darby very much, although I never met him. Uh, I like his writings. I use his translation very freely and very frequently. But, like most good men, he had difficulties, and I think it is right to say that he made three attempts to date the coming of the Lord Jesus. Three attempts, if not four. Now, that's a tragedy, and that's not an ancient thing. Not so very long ago, in the American continent, many, many dear brethren that I know personally were caught up tragically in a date-fixing parade. Now, I'm not going to go into the consequences of that, but all I'm going to say is this: I do trust, beloved, that as we have studied prophecy from the word of God in these nights, I do trust the speaker first and then you next, we will be mutually preserved from becoming prophets. Now that's the big danger when we get occupied with prophecy. And if we become prophets, there is a very, very great possibility that we will be proved to be false prophets. And that would be even more serious, wouldn't it? So now, let us do away with any deep fixing. I'm not going to list the many, many people that with which I am conversant that have done this in literature and in days that are long past. We look to the word of God, we learn from it as much as we possibly can, but beloved, we desist. We desist from doing anything that would give a false impression to the slightest, to the youngest, to the oldest, and to whoever it may be of the people of God. That is why I have not applied what I have taught. That is why I have not given an up-to-date, uh, appraisal, because I may be proved wrong before the week is out. What may appear to me to be the fulfillment of the word of God may be very quickly dissipated, and I would be standing without and ashamed of what I've said in relation to the truth of God. So, beloved, that's a very important thing, and I trust this evening you will recognize it as such and read your Bible, study prophecy, get to know the mind of God thoroughly, but desist from being a prophet. Just leave it in the hands of a faithful, providential God. When I think of the coming of the Lord Jesus, I think of the quickness of his coming. And that brings me to that lovely portion in Revelation. I hope you'll read those three times that word is used in the twenty second chapter. First of all, in verse number seven, and on that, in that passage, in that verse, the rapidity, the quickness of his coming illuminates my life. Now, I leave you to look at that verse, and you'll see that that's the summary. Because in that passage, the quickness, now not the quantity, not the quality, not the quietitude, but the quickness of his promise is related to his word. It illuminates my life. In verse number twelve, you will read that verse, and you'll find the word is used again, and there it stimulates my labor. It helps me to work. It energizes me to serve him, for he's coming quickly. And therefore, not only does it illuminate my life, it gives me understanding. But that understanding is not just to be mere knowledge. It is to be, uh, moved and brought into and, uh, enable me to come into work and labor for Christ. It stimulates my labor. But then when you come to that last verse, verse number twenty, it consummates my longing. It consummates my longing because the attitude or the reaction is this, even so come, Lord Jesus. And so I trust you will look at these very simple words that occur in the subject. Now, in coming to the coming of the Lord Jesus, I have four simple things, four simple points upon which to hang my remarks. First of all, I want you to think of the terms employed. Now, it'll do you no harm to look again at your New Testament and recognize on the very surface of your Bible, and more especially under the surface, if you can dig a little bit, and you will find that it has pleased the Spirit of God to use four distinct words to convey this truth. Four words. Now, we have read the four of them in the reading tonight, in each passage somewhere. And I want you to go through them again. And if you do, you'll find it will elucidate the coming of the Lord to you in a very, very precious way. First of all, there is what is generally translated, the word coming. Coming. Now, I'm not going to go into the technical details of that word. All I want to stress to my younger brethren and sisters particularly is this, when you get that word coming from Matthew to the end of the New Testament, in the sixteen times that it occurs in relation to the coming of the Lord Jesus, of course, it occurs in many other ways and other subjects. Uh, you will get this point, that it denotes, the word is denoting presence. Now get that in your soul, the presence of the Lord Jesus. Now there's a sense in which the Lord is present tonight. We all recognize that. But in this word, here it is in essence, here it is in effect, here it is in a way that we have never, never known it as yet. When our Lord Jesus rises up and comes, that word will be actual. He will be present, and we will be conscious of his presence. And that, of course, is the most precious thing. Now, you will look at that word, and you'll find it to be a very, very useful word in your New Testament, as we see in this epistle to the Thessalonians. Then there is another word, and it is generally translated appear. Appear. You'll find it in First John three. You will find it in other portions of the Word of God, but it only occurs five times in relation to the coming of the Lord Jesus. Now, it's a very, very beautiful word, and it's a very strong word. And what I want you to be able to grasp in this word is this, that it will give you, when the Savior comes, it will give me, by the manner of his presence, it will give me all the perception that I require of who he is and of all that he is. You see, I may see a thing and not perceive. I may know something and not really understand. But this word brings to my soul this glorious fact. There won't just be a person there in presence, but he will appear. Can I get that word to you? He will appear, and there will be a transformation in my experience that will make me thoroughly perceptive of his presence, of his person, and of all that he is. And then, of course, there is the word manifestation. Manifestation. That's the word that we have used, seen used, rather, in second Thessalonians one, The brightness of his coming, the manifestation of his coming. Now, the word manifestation is never used of the coming of the Lord Jesus in that sense. It is only used twice in Militia to the Spirit of God, but its form is, its form, it is got other forms, but the actual form of manifestation is not applied to the Lord Jesus, and I often wonder why it's not, because it's a beautiful word. But its form is in another form, same word, not in the noun form, but in the verb form, if I may, uh, sound rather technical, excuse me, but I want to make that clear. Now, what does this word do? Well, this word brings out the perfections of the person that is up, that has appeared. So that we're not just looking at a person, and that's it, but we are perceptive of all that he is. All that he is. That is, the perfections of the Savior will radiate and will touch our very being. Will not be our soul raised to meet him, that respond to his call, will not be conscious of the exceeding eternal glory of the person that has come. Oh, think of that. A person may come into this room, I may not know a thing about. I see their person. I don't even know their name. I see them. They have come. My friend, that will not be so with the Lord Jesus. When he comes, you and I will be made conscious of all that he is, for he will manifest himself. Manifest himself. And then there's this great word that is translated revelation seven times in connection with the Lord Jesus. So we have sixteen times the word coming, we have five times the word appear, we have five times the word manifested, and we have seven times the word revelation. Now, you know that that word is called apocalypsis. Now, what does that do? Well, it does this. If a person came into this room, I'd never met him before, and he's in a suit, I wouldn't really know who he is or what he is. But if he arrived in a policeman's uniform, I would know right away, whatever else, that's a policeman. How would I know that? Because he's unveiling by being dressed in a uniform that he is a policeman. I mean, I haven't met him before. If he'd come in without that, I wouldn't know what he was. But he is telling me what he is, and he's telling me all about himself in that sense, by his unveiling, by how he's dressed. Have you seen that? You see, if if if I were walking somewhere along the way and a person arrived, there he is with a an admiral's uniform, then I would know he's an admiral. I would never have a, I would never ascertain that if he had just been walking down in an ordinary suit. But you know, beloved, that's what this great word is telling me about. This is the proof. This is the proof. Our Lord Jesus Christ is going to come. His presence is going to be a living reality, but you and I are going to be brought into the fullness, and we're going to be able to perceive, and we're going to be able to drink in all his perfections, because when he appears, he will have all the evidence. And you. Why you? So See, you know. nobody can see that, only those that are redeemed. We see it now in faith. But my dear friend, what a day is going to come when this blessed one is going to reveal himself to the world, that he's King of kings and Lord of lords. When they saw him in Calvary, in all the shame and suffering of the tree, oh, they never thought of it. Although he told them, when you shall see the Son of Man come in his glory, they scorned it. They mocked it. They disowned it. But friend, when he appears, you have the proof. Truth. When When he he'll unveil, when he'll take off, as it were, and show his raiment, should I put it, and I'm not putting it irreverently, when he shows his uniform. And I'll see him. I'll mourn. You know how it's going to be. And you know, these are great words, beloved. I hope you, I hope you rejoice in them. The term, the term's important. And now I want you to get the truth expressed. That's what brings me to this epistle. I love this epistle for this reason. I have no difficulty in working through it because it just consummates each chapter in the subject before us, and all of us in the meeting, I would feel, are aware of its beauty and its blessedness. And so when I think of the, uh, truth that is, uh, the truth that is expressed, I find the coming of the Lord in uh First Thessalonians chapter one verse nine and ten is vitally associated with the conversion of sinners. That's good, isn't it? We remember the first moment we trusted the Lord Jesus, and what a joy filled our hearts when it dawned on us that we were ready to meet the Savior. Of God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his son from heaven. And always make clear, as I have to do in Malaysia, that it wasn't the, uh, it wasn't the disappointment with the idol that turned them to the glory of God. Never, never misquote the scripture. It wasn't that these people became dissatisfied with idolatry and decided they would try Christianity. That's the way the gospel's preached in many a place. My dear friend, it was the supervening glory of God that turned these people away from idols to the living God, to wait for a son. It wasn't the, it wasn't the shameless, shamefulness of the idol. No, no. That wouldn't turn a soldier. It's what I have so often preached from Luke fifteen. It's another theme, but it's the same touch. It wasn't his want that brought him from the far. It wasn't the selfishness of man that brought him from the far country. It wasn't the emptiness of the will. It it it it it it wasn't the wretchedness of a soul. What was it that brought him? The fullness of the Father's house. That brought him there. What point to find that I have nothing if there's nothing there? What point to find that men are selfish if there's not a bountiful father? Friend, tonight let us get this passage here clear, because I want to tell you, if I started on this, I would rejoice in it. You see this stick here? I want you to think of it as a ladder. And I want you to start at the last verse of chapter 1. And you'll notice what it says, a true and living God. Well, that's where it all starts. That's what he is. And then it says they turned to God. Why did they turn to God? Because he was a true and living God. That's the next step. And if you go from verse number ten right up to verse number one, like a ladder like this, strange way to go through a, through a chapter. But you'll adjust yourself freely as you climb the ladder. You'll find that there are steps in it, punctuated by the mention of God in this chapter. That brings us from the realm of idolatry, from the rages of idolatry, into the realm of the assembly. I tell you what a chapter on the glory of God. And so here we are, and here is the coming in relation to the conversion of these dear people to wait for his son from heaven. What's the next truth? Chapter two verse nineteen shows the truth of the coming in relation to the compensation of servants. I think that's very precious. I don't think that the apostle is looking really here at the salvation of the Thessalonians. I don't know that I'm going to get a crown for saying so saying. I- I- I don't think that that's what's here. I think that what is here is this, and I want you to get this if you want me to have a crown. I believe that the crown in relation to these Thessalonians and in relation to Paul is this. The measure in which these Thessalonians accepted the truth that he taught, the measure in which they adopted the principles he enunciated, the measure in which they responded to the teaching that he gave. And I tell you, brethren, that's a more strenuous thing. A more strenuous thing. It's a great thing to see souls saved, but I tell you this, it's a very, very big thing to see saints adopting the principles of the Word of God and abiding by them. And I feel that is the crown that the apostle is anticipating. That is the joy that is filling his heart. He hasn't got the same adore, neither has he as the same anticipation when he looks at the Galatians. And there's no mention of the coming directly in that epistle. He doesn't see in them a response to what he taught. In fact, he sees that they've turned away from him, and he says, I'm astounded, oh foolish Galatians, who have bewitched you? But as he looks at this assembly, as he looks at these saints, he's comforted that in the measure in which they have responded, they are his compensation in that day. And brethren, if you want me to have a crime, putting it this way, and if you were here, you would address me in the same light, then you have to respond to the teaching. I have to respond to the teaching. It's our mutual responsibility if we're going to grant, if there's going to be a compensation for the silence. What do you think of those that look, as we will see in a moment, what do you think of the elders in the assembly? What do you think of those that watch for your souls? What do you think of those that must give account? What do you think of the shepherds, the under shepherds of First Peter five? Can't you see that they're longing for you, their exercise for you, their prayer over you, their ministry to you is for your enrichment, and the measure in which you respond will be the guarantee of their compensation in that day. And what do I really boast in? Mind you, this is an important thing. As a man, so his praise. People that listen to me every day, people that listen to me every week, people that move with me in life can quickly assess what really my life is, and yours too. That makes me extremely careful about what I say, about what I do. I want to leave that in the hands of God. And so the apostle says, for ye are our glory and joy. Ye are our both. What he sees produced in others. That's it, brethren. Not how well I've preached. It's not the numbers I've drawn. It's not the cloud that I've impressed. If I talk about that, it's as empty as the air. But the apostle is putting his finger on reality. What really do you boast about? Saints that move in accordance with the word of God. They are my joy. Now, in chapter two, beloved, it's what I do for God. But in chapter three, the coming of the Lord is associated not so much now with the compensation of saints, chapter two, or the conversion of sinners, chapter one, but here, with the conformation of saints. And here it's not what I do for God, here is what God is doing in me. Brethren, we're never as near to the coming of the Lord as we are tonight. I'm asking my soul, I'm asking you, what effect has it upon my inward being? There are two issues here that relate to the nature of God, love and holiness. Love and holiness. That's not something I can conjure up. That's not something I can manifest. That is something that is wrought in me by the God that has saved me. And the prayer of the apostle is that you, and that I, and that each of us, these saints included, from the moment he bent his knee in prayer, right up to the moment of the coming of the Lord Jesus. What? That ye be preserved, that ye be, that your hearts may be established unblameable in holiness. My brethren, what a practical move. Unblameable in holiness. Have we ever heard it explained? Have we ever heard it expounded? The effect of the coming of the Lord, what it should produce in conformation of saints. The truth is tremendous in these verses. Chapter four, what is it? Well, it's the consolation of sorrow. And we're all familiar with chapter four thirteen to eighteen. I think it's a very precious portion, because in it we have the clear authority of the apostle that we'll touch on in a moment, and I think it's very precious to see that he's speaking in relation to the word of the Lord. That's why I wanted you to notice in verse fifteen: for this we say unto you in, in the word of the Lord, that is in the power of it, in the present good of it. You notice that he doesn't quote a passage here. He doesn't quote Isaiah. What he's establishing i- i- is the word of the Lord. Now we understand what that means. I think that we understand in this meeting tonight that the apostle is moving and is writing and is speaking in the good of a revelation from the risen Lord. You see, in this subject, in this paragraph, of this dimension, about this truth, he cannot refer to an Old Testament passage. How would you get that truth expressed? My tell you, that's one of the vital things I think they've missed. You see, when I come to First Corinthians fifteen, you will know that First Corinthians fifteen is resurrection. First Thessalonians four is more than resurrection. Resurrection is here, but there's more than resurrection here. There's rapture. First Corinthians fifteen prepares me for the rapture, but it does not take me of the earth. So when the apostle is establishing the verity of resurrection, he can quote an Old Testament passage, and does. But when it comes to the rapture of the church, there's not an Old Testament passage that he can draw upon. What's his authority? Is it something he has conjugated? Is it something he has composed? No, he gives it in the word of the Lord. I tell you, there's much here. Now I'm going to ask you a question, faithfully, and we've been good friends all along, and everybody has shaken their hand good out, whether they think it's all also good or not, I don't know, but I'm thankful. How broadly do you put the term the dead in Christ. Take the expression in Christ. Don't leave it to your imagination. Do work. Get your Bible down. Examine it in light of your New Testament. Ask yourself the question, how embracive is the term? Now, of course, when you're speaking of resurrection, Paul, you don't use the term in Christ. He uses the term they that are Christ's. This is different. There are people who belong to Christ that are not in Christ. Are you working on that? There are people that belong to Christ that are not in Christ. So, I want you to understand the truth expressed. I want you to be able to assess what the truth is. And I want you to understand that this term, the dead in Christ, is exclusively the church. There's not another passage in the Word of God that makes it anything else. And Mr. Darby, whom I love, tells you in every portion of the New Testament where the term used is used, that it is the church, until he comes to this one. And he changes his whole idea. And so many have read it without thinking and have adopted his stance and have not examined that such an interpretation is not in keeping with the truth expressed in the ram. And so that's an important thing. For chapter five. Chapter five deals with the confirmation of the sanctifying. The apostle's praying again, and he wants the saints to realize that they're sanctified wholly, and, uh, he prays that their spirit, soul, and body be preserved entire. I- I'm, I- I'm just a little bit disappointed that the authorized do not bring in that word entire because it's in the text. It is omitted. Preserved blameless, but it really is preserved entire without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. What is here, beloved? Well, I know that you're going to, uh, maybe not shake my hand now when I say there's someone in particular or some people in particular, but you'll understand I'm not being, uh, I'm not referring to anything here. Honestly, when I go for tea on a Sunday to many a house, the lady puts me into the front room. You know what I mean, and I stand there and look out, and man, I tell you, I like to praise these good ladies because they're ever so kind, and I commend them on their lovely guy. See, there it is. Oh yes, she said, well, you know, and uh, there I leave. And then after a minute or so or a while, they bring me into another room to have tea, and of course I stand for a minute and look out this window. Of course, it's the backyard. Oh, she said, now don't be looking in that direction because I haven't the time just to do this and do that, and the back one is not as nice as the front. Oh, well, I wasn't really going to pay attention to that. I was just looking out the window, lady. Don't worry. You see, that's the way it goes, isn't it? Not everywhere, but some place. Now, that's why I wanted this word entirely. This word entirely is the word for allotment. Compound, as we would say in Malaysia. We talk not about gardens, but a compound. Back and front. And you know, beloved, as far as we are concerned, we're, we're like this woman in, in inverted commas. The front is well. The front is looking good. The bit that people see every day is well attended, but the back bit that very few see is not so well attended. Now, beloved, there are many lives like that. God knows. But the fact of this coming and of this work is that the spirit, soul, and body be preserved entire, the whole of the compound, back and front. As it ought. But after all, beloved, you may just see me on the platform. You may just see me in a restricted way, but you know, as I said the other night, God sees me at every point of my life. The back and the front. And you know, beloved, we want that before God tonight, the homilies. Because it's in you that it's coming. Now, if you went into the second epistle, there are precious snatches of truth there too. And as we have seen in chapter one and, uh, verse number seven, and to you who are troubled, rest with us in or at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven. I love that word. I want you to get the rest that it affords. You know, we, we, we're not looking for revenge. Beloved saints that have passed through persecution are must be the sweetest of all saints. Many have gone humbly and holily to the state, bearing no grudge, carrying no vile upon their persecutors. But the apostle does say in this passage, he said, seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation or affliction to them that trouble you. Now remember, God will ultimately visit upon those that have poured out persecution upon the people of God, the judgment appropriate to their view, and it not be an unrighteous thing with God. So the apostle says, to you that are afflicted. We turn our minds tonight to the multitudes in China particularly that are presently afflicted. Afflicted more than we know and that we could ever conceive. This word must go to them and to many more like them. The apostle would say, rest with us. Why? Because there's a day coming in the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, when his majesty and his manifested glory will deal with those that have persecuted and have brought the affliction upon. And mind you, beloved, the closer we come to the day of manifestation, the reality is this, that many, many, many people that have poured out in this day scorn and persecution upon the people of God are going to be engulfed in that. What a revelation. Now you go through the epistle, and I trust you will pick out the issues that I haven't time to mention. Now, the terms employed, the truth expressed, and the testimony expected. I think you know that. I think you understand that if we speak about the coming of the Lord, then there should be a state of readiness. Then there should be a condition of faithfulness. A- and then there should be a real, a real state of steadfastness. Now you examine the word of God, and you'll find that these abound, these very words. What shall we say about a spirit of watchfulness? Watchfulness? Is it true that the porter is to watch? How are you winding that door? That door there. You know that in two Peter three, as we will see, the pilgrim has to watch? You know in Hebrews thirteen, as I've mentioned already, the pastor has to watch? That watch for your souls. They're watching. Why? Because the Lord is coming. And they'll have to give an account. Then what shall we say about the condition of blamelessness? We have looked at that word in first Thessalonians three and we have looked at it in first Thessalonians five and we could look at it in first Corinthians one and we could look at it in second Peter three. My dear brethren, the testimony expected is tremendous. I must close. Fourthly, the time examined. Now that's a big issue. I trust that as I summarize this, my brethren will follow. In the nights that are past, we have established that the prophetic word is marked by authority. Authority. And then we have established, I think, beyond question, that if it's marked by authority, it is marked by authenticity. It's absolutely reliable. And because it is authoritative, I have to respect it. And because it is marked by authenticity, I can rely upon it. But we have surely, beloved, seen the accuracy of the word of God. The accuracy. Surely we saw that last night. Surely we've seen it the nights that are past. The perfect precision of the prophetic word. Well now, if you have acknowledged that, here's a point I want you never to forget. Not only is there authority, not only is there authenticity, not only is there this great truth of accuracy, but listen, brethren, there is the precise thought of arrangement. This theme is not liquor's all shot. Pardon the reference. This truth is not hot punch, a dog's dinner. There is arrangement. The mighty word of God is marked by order. And if I do not recognize that order, if I interrupt or intrude or infer, then I'm going to disrupt that order. And listen, that's where multitude are vulnerable. And for me to stand here and tell you that I haven't examined the timing of this rapture would be incredulous. And for me to stand and tell you that there's no such thing as a rapture as we know it would be iniquitous. And for me to tell you that before the rapture we will go through the tribulation would be scandalous. Or to tell you that, well, really, we'll not go through it all, but we go through part of it. We got people that teach that amongst us. And we got people that say, well, there's nothing of this, as I said last night. It's all going to happen in one day. Coming, judgment, rapture, whatever you call it. One moment. All over. I'm not. I'm going to leave you with that, but we're going to come back to it. But listen, brethren. Let us be faithful. If there's an order in the book, don't you disrupt it. If you cannot see the arrangement of God in his word that puts things down as they are, wait until God gives you light. But listen, I'm I'm perfectly passionately persuaded, persuaded. with this book before, that having examined it, we will not, we will not go through the tribulation. If I had nothing else, I have two verses. Our blessed Lord Jesus is our deliverer from the wrath to come. And we are not appointed unto wrath, the same epistle, chapter five, but unto the obtaining of salvation. And as he puts it in the second epistle, unto the obtaining of the glory. That much may be said. Thank you for listening, and the Lord bless. Our Father, we come to thee in the precious name of the Lord Jesus, and we thank thee for thy good word. We pray that it may have an abiding place in our hearts, especially the practical implications of what we believe, of what thy word teaches, and what thou dost desire, and what thou dost deserve. So we pray that in these things in which we have been looking inward and looking outward, looking at the things that are seen in our lives and the things that are not so easily discerned, we pray, Lord, that we may realize it's all open before thee. And soon our Lord Jesus Christ will come, not just a theme to sing about, not just a subject to minister about, but a power to regulate, a power to stimulate our lives for thee. Lord, if there's anything in our hearts, if there's anything in our homes, if there's anything in our habits that is not in keeping with thy mind and will, we pray, Lord, that we will have it done with tonight and be ready to meet the Savior when he comes. Grant this blessing as we stand before thee now in the precious name of the Lord Jesus. Amen. Now, hymn number forty seven. Look, you since the sight is glorious, see the man of sorrows now. Verse one of forty seven, and thank you for coming. Shall we stand to sing?