For those who have joined us for this
evening only, may I just repeat that we
close our season around the Lord's table, the
special object of giving testimony to that wonderful
grace of God drawing to himself many out
of different nations and peoples and tongues, quite
a few of those are represented in our
gathering at this time.
The meeting will not be prolonged for that,
we shall seek to get through in good
time for those who have to leave and
travel.
Now, as from what I said this afternoon
that there were two remaining peaks on the
horizon of Christ to be considered and from
certain intimations in our singing this evening, I
take it that you have arrived at your
own conclusion as to what it is that
we come to this evening as the final
epoch, the final peak in the cycle
of the mission and work of our Lord
Jesus, that is his coming again.
There is a very real sense in which
the coming again of the Lord Jesus, his
return, horizons everything else and
we come to that conclusion from the word
of God itself.
It may surprise some of you, though not
those who know their Bibles well, that this
matter of the coming again of the Lord
Jesus is given a larger place in all
the Bible than any other matter.
You might like or want to challenge me
on that, but I've said it quite deliberately.
You may not be able to corroborate it
from your knowledge, but there it is.
It is really in some form or another
mentioned through the scriptures more often than anything
else.
And that fact, if it is true, if
it is a fact, really does mean that
this is the horizon over everything, coming again.
Of course it isn't spoken of as that,
but you can clearly see it in types,
in figures, in symbols, in analogies, in parable,
in song, in metaphor, in prophecy, in narrative,
in doctrine, in exhortation, and in appeal.
Every one of those and all of those
relate to the coming again of the Lord
Jesus.
It encompasses the Bible.
You're hardly into your Bible.
The great, terrible thing that happened in the
garden is not finished before the Lord is
saying to the serpent, seed of the woman
shall bruise your head, shall bruise your head.
And while that was partially true in the
cross of the Lord Jesus, it has not
been fully accomplished until he comes again.
The word is to the church, God shall
bruise Satan under your heel, shortly, and that
shortly relates to his coming.
So this thing comes right into view, the
beginning of the Bible.
And you know quite well that the end
of the Bible is just that.
I come quickly.
And all the way between Genesis and Revelation,
we have this manifold intubation, suggestion, or indication
that this is the end.
This is the end.
Again, you do not get far into your
Bible, in the book of Genesis, before you
get on to Enoch and his prophecy.
Behold, he cometh with ten thousand.
So you go on.
I'm not going through the Bible.
Don't be worried about that.
I'm only indicating to you that this is
the thing which horizons everything and is, after
all, the circle within which all the activities
of God and interests of God are pursued
and fulfilled, even unto his.
In the next place, you will find that
every fundamental doctrine of Christianity is bound up
with the coming again of the Lord.
Redemption began.
It's only consummated in his time.
Redemption has begun within the heart of believers
from the first through the centuries.
It is to be completed in the completed
church and holy nation, and then in the
creation itself.
The creation is to be delivered from the
bondage in which it is found, under which
it is groaning.
And it will be at Christ's coming that
the creation itself shall know its full redemption.
And as a part of that creation, we,
ourselves grown within ourselves, waiting to win.
Waiting.
Our own full redemption, and as the crown
of our spiritual redemption, the redemption of our
body.
At his coming, redemption, which is a great
doctrine through the Bible, is completed in this
creation.
The whole doctrine of sanctification is given to
us in the light of his coming.
Why, why should we be holy?
Why should we walk before the Lord in
holiness?
Why the whole doctrine of sanctification?
It is consummated at his coming.
It is unto his coming.
We have got to walk here in this
life, in the light of his coming.
And some people think that it doesn't matter
very much about now and how they walk.
When he comes, it will all be alright.
They'll be completely changed, willy-nilly.
But you know quite well that the weight
of the Bible comes right down upon this.
That he that hath this hope within him
purifies himself, even as he is pure.
It's a motive for holiness.
It's the coming of the Lord, an object
for sanctification.
Walking with the Lord is a great doctrine
in the New Testament and the Old.
Walking with the Lord.
And in a figurative and symbolic way, this
is consummated in his coming, when we shall
walk with him in white.
As symbolism, walk with him in white, given
to the saints, white raiment.
That is the consummation of sanctification at his
coming.
There is very much throughout the whole Bible
about fellowship with the Lord in his sufferings.
How much there is about the sufferings of
the saints on this earth, all the way
along, because they are the Lord's.
Because they are the Lord's.
They suffer in a peculiar way, because they
are the Lord's.
We won't say they, we suffer too, in
a peculiar way, just because we are the
Lord's.
A lot we should escape if we were
not the Lord's.
A lot of people leave the Lord because
they want it easier, and they can have
it easier, less suffering.
But to know the fellowship of his sufferings
has a very great deal of scripture linked
with it, of encouragement, of comfort, of exhortation,
and so on.
At his coming, all this teaching and all
this experience of the sufferings of the saints
will be consummated, will be ended.
There shall be no more pain.
There shall be no more sorrow, nor crying,
nor death.
His coming will bring the end to all
suffering.
And so one could go on with the
many, many aspects of teaching in the word
of God, the great doctrines of the Bible,
enumerating them, that you'll see that in every
one, this is true, that every fundamental doctrine
is in some way linked for its accomplishment,
its consummation, all its value, with the coming
again of the Lord.
And in that coming, all that will have
its final fulfillment, all that the cross means
for him, for us, for the church, will
be vindicated at his coming.
There is partial vindication.
He is seeing through the ages, through the
centuries, something of the travail of his soul.
But there is a great deal yet to
be made up of the sufferings of Christ,
and there's a great deal more for the
cross to do, and there's a larger vindication
of his suffering and death of his cross,
and that full vindication of him and the
offering of himself will come to him and
to us who share his cross with his
return.
It's like that.
And another thing about his coming, it will
be then that the church, that elect body
chosen in him before the foundation of the
world, for a special purpose, will come into
that special purpose, which is rulership over this
world.
We are so familiar with that concept, with
that truth, but that is the crowning thing
of the Bible record, represented again in the
high symbolism of the city, the holy city,
the new Jerusalem coming down from God out
of heaven.
The symbolism is of the governmental center of
this universe through the eternal ages.
That city is naught else but the church.
At his coming, the church will take its
place, the place which the prince of this
world, powers of Satan now occupy, as the
world rulers of this darkness, the host of
wicked spirits, the prince of the power of
the air.
That place will be taken by the church.
It is to reign with him.
It is to govern with him.
It is to be over this earth in
good, for good, in glory, in benefit, what
the present powers are for evil and for
good.
That is the calling, the vocation, and the
destiny of the church according to God's eternal
election.
And the church will, at his coming, enter
upon the rule which Satan now exercises, when
he is cast out of the air, cast
down into the pit, and his rule is
ended.
Christ, in his church, will take that place.
Recall to that, and of course we could
dwell very much upon it, and what it
means, what it involves, how much of our
present education is because of that calling and
vocation in the ages to come.
But a lot is interpreted by that, how
we are being taught now spiritual ascendancy, how
we are in the battle for spiritual ascendancy
over the forces of evil.
We are in that now.
The consummation of all that will be when
the church takes its eternally elected place to
rule with Christ in this creation.
That will take place when he comes again,
again, at his coming to reign the universal
reign of righteousness and peace on this earth.
That will be established.
That for which men have striven and failed
all through the ages.
For which they are striving today, perhaps more
than ever, and finding the frustration and the
defeat and the problem of world peace, a
state of righteousness too great for them.
And it will be so.
It will be so to the end.
But at his coming, reign of righteousness, reign
of peace on this earth, will begin.
Righteousness shall cover the earth as the waters
cover the sea.
It will be then that this creation shall
be delivered from the bondage of corruption, corruption,
into the glorious righteousness and the peace which
always followed righteousness at his appearance.
Now, I could go on for a very
long time on what's going to happen when
he comes back.
It's not my intention to do so.
I promised you that we shall not prolong
this gathering, but this note must be struck
as the final and crowning note of such
a consideration as that with which we have
been occupied through these hours of these days.
Now, these are all things which are taught
in the word of God, and you probably
know them, with many others.
But I do feel that it is necessary
for us to come closer to this thing
because of how we are involved, not only
in the glorious end and climax, but how
we are involved in the final movement toward
that end.
That climax.
And we are involved.
But the word of God indicates very clearly
and very definitely some of those things which
will point to the imminence of his coming.
The imminence of his coming.
That is, that his coming draweth nigh.
I suppose we are very practically involved in
some of the aspects of this matter.
Every time you get into your motor car
or into an aeroplane, you are involved in
one of the final themes of this dispensation.
I hope that won't frighten you.
But you will call to mind that the
scriptures definitely state and prophesy that at the
end, many shall run to and fro.
Was there ever a time when men are
running to and fro in the earth as
they are today?
If a week passes without someone from one
part of the world rushing to another part
of the world to try and solve some
of this world's deep problems, it's quite unusual.
They are just doing it.
New York, Moscow.
London, India.
To and fro.
This feverish movement.
Running to and fro.
How descriptive that is.
A man who prophesied that probably never had
any idea of jet planes or aeroplanes at
all.
Or of motor cars and speedy vehicles.
But the Lord knew.
The Lord knew.
And it is not just straining interpretation, imagining
things.
Here we are.
Our papers, every morning, are occupied with something
of this.
Many running to and fro.
Implying, implying that there is feverish concern, feverish
anxiety, causing this tremendous activity.
An intensification of activity in this creation and
in this universe.
And isn't that what's happening?
Isn't that what's happening?
The speeding up of movement.
The rush.
And hurry.
And anxiety.
And strain.
Like that.
This running to and fro which involves us
all in greater or lesser degree in some
way or other.
That is, the intensified movement of our time
is something that is indicative of us hastening
toward a climax.
Might well ask the question, where is all
this going to end?
Where is it going to end?
If we go on like this?
Go on like this?
Where is the end going to be?
Well, the Bible says that that is indicative
of the near approach of the Lord.
Many shall run to and fro.
And the next part of the statement is,
and knowledge shall be increased.
No, I need to stay with that.
What, in the last five years?
Ten years?
Increase of knowledge?
In this universe?
Deep secrets that have always been hidden there?
Brought out?
Uncommon knowledge now?
Things that some of us in our younger
days would have thought were real fabulous fables.
We were told that this would happen.
Told this would happen.
All this intensification of the increase of knowledge.
How it's been packed in, isn't it?
Packed in.
Concentrated.
And the Bible says that that is a
mark that the end is near.
Dispensation is coming to its end, and the
end is the coming of the Lord.
The intensification of anxious, excited, distracted movement, and
the quest for knowledge, and knowledge that men
would be well without.
After all, it's only the full development and
consummation of that bid for knowledge in the
God.
All right, says the Lord, you shall have
it.
But you shall have it to your own
undoing.
And the end brings us to that.
Intensified activity.
Then the Bible tells us that another sign
of the near approach of His coming will
be the intensification of evil and godlessness.
Again, that is not something that needs to
be argued and labelled.
Things have got right out of hand.
I cannot understand it.
Why our youth, our youth, our teenagers, just
run amok in evil.
Why young men, plenty are being sent to
the gallows.
Why are prisoners becoming overloaded with criminals?
And what is more, outside of them, apart
from the crimes, look at the godlessness.
I don't know how you felt on Friday.
Perhaps we're a bit old-fashioned, or we'd
be called a bit old-fashioned.
But on this very Friday, which throughout all
Christendom, and this so-called Christian country, things
were just carried on without any thought whatsoever
for what that day represented.
Business, trade, and everything else, just as though
Christ had never died, as though this day
had no significance whatsoever.
While we are not really greatly concerned to
keep up the religious calendar and these things,
we do feel that the remembrance is something
which ought to be secretly guarded.
The godlessness, not only at such times, but
on the Lord's own day and generally.
How iniquity abounds.
How evil in this world is intensifying.
How godlessness is spreading.
Well, the word says that's how it will
be at the end.
Quite distinctly, and quite definitely, an intensification of
evil.
Again, the word tells us that there will
be at the end an intensified brightening of
the two kinds of seed.
Well, there it is on the sowing of
the evil one.
His seed is brightening.
There's an intensification.
Let both grow together until, until, until the
harvest.
And the mark then by which you'll know
is the intensification of the nature of each.
An intensifying process which will declare itself at
the end.
And while we are all here so easily
able to discern the intensification of the evil
seed, are we not today, perhaps as never
before, in such, in such a large way,
in the presence of this intensifying process where
the children of God are concerned?
Like that?
Perhaps here in the West, we know something
about it in our own spiritual life, in
our own faith.
Things are getting pretty, pretty severe, aren't they?
Getting intense for us.
Spiritual, spiritual life is becoming more and more
difficult.
Trial of faith is becoming increasingly great and
strong and deep.
And the Lord is proceeding with this intensifying
process.
There was a brother here last night, who
spends much of his time behind the Iron
Curtain.
And he was telling me, having been there
quite recently, he said, a wonderful thing of
God is being done behind the Iron Curtain.
He said, you'll find a quality of Christians
that you'll never find here in the West.
He said, you may pity them and be
sorry for them, but there's another standpoint.
They have a knowledge of the Lord in
their hearts that very few in this part
of the world have.
And it's all because of the intensely difficult
situation in which they're found.
That, in China, in Russia, in Siberia, and
elsewhere, is ripening the saints.
While we may not be knowing the same
kind of conditions and circumstances, I don't think,
dear friends, that you and I who really
do seek to go on with the Lord
are finding things becoming easier.
The spiritual life, indeed, very much more difficult.
We are being intensified by the very conditions,
spiritual conditions, at the end.
And so it says, the two seeds will
come to rightness, to fullness, by an intensifying
process and stream, trial of faith, the faith
of the believers.
And all this, much more, comes within the
compass of a mighty intensified activity on the
part of the powers of darkness to contradict
all that is true of Christ.
Now think about that.
All that we have been saying about the
Lord Jesus.
Put your finger upon one point only.
God raised him, and set him at his
own right hand, far above all rule, and
authority, and principality, and power, and every name
that is named.
Do you ever, do you ever wonder how
far that is true?
May I dare say that?
Just look at this intensified activity to counter
and contradict the absolute supremacy of the Lord
Jesus in this world.
That's what's going on.
Simply to deny the truth that he is
Lord of all, and Lord of lords.
If you look at things, you look at
things, and look at your own experiences, you
might find plenty of ground to say, is
he really on the throne?
Is he really far above all rule and
authority?
The devil seems to have a good deal
of liberty and power.
He is doing very much as he likes.
He is seeking to establish a great contradiction
to the truth of Jesus Christ.
And what is true in that connection is
true in everything else.
True in everything else.
There can be found material for raising questions
about everything concerning the Lord Jesus, if you
are disposed to look for it.
But this is what is going to happen.
This is just what is going to happen
when the Son of Man comes.
Shall he find the faith on the earth?
The point in that question, where everything, everything
will seem to contradict faith in the supreme
and ultimate truths of the Lord Jesus.
I know it is.
I don't want to dishearten you.
But here it is, an intensifying movement in
every direction and connection.
The word of God says, is a clear
indication that the end is near.
Perhaps the final phase is gathered into that
one statement, woe unto you that dwell upon
the earth.
For Satan is come down to you, having
great wrath, because he knows his time is
short.
Because he knows his time is short.
Evil powers, active in a way unparalleled, pressure
from that realm, as never in history, he's
got to be in a hurry.
He's got to do a lot in a
short time, because he knows that it is
a short time.
But these are indicated signs that the coming
of the Lord draws near.
But we can't end on that, can we?
We can't close on that side, on that
note.
His coming, which is pointed to, indicated by
all these things, is going to settle the
whole question.
Which is pointed to, indicated by all these
things, is going to settle the whole question,
fully and finally and forever, as to who
is Lord, as to where the truth is,
and who are the Lords.
Because you have these two glorious things revealed
at his coming.
First of all, he is manifested, he is
revealed in all the value and the virtue
of what he is and what he has
done.
But his coming is not only his coming
in personal glory, it says, when he shall
come to be glorified in his saints, and
to be marveled at in all them that
believe.
I always come to that statement.
With amazement, amazement and deep wonder, principalities and
powers of a higher order, intelligences that will
be watching, are looking on, and form the
great audience and the great spiritual galleries of
this theater, are going to point to the
saints and say, isn't he marvelous?
Just look at him, in what he is
in them, and marvel in all them that
believe.
That's what will happen when he comes.
I'm sure we are quite prepared to believe
that, except that if we are going to
be really glorified together with him, it's going
to be something for angels and all other
intelligences to marvel at.
You and I, being what we are, changed
into his own glory, glorified together with him.
My, that's something to marvel at, to be
marveled at in all them that believe.
Crowned then, and you see, with a very,
very comprehensive, far-reaching, many-sided matter, coming
of the Lord, can only just be pointed
to and indicated as near at hand by
some of those very evident fulfillments of the
word of God.
Lord give us joy in the prospect that
his coming draweth near.