211, redeemed from death, redeemed from sin, redeemed
from ills without within, redeemed what new light
builds the skies, what glories on the soul
arise.
This is a great hymn, and I don't
think we ever sing it.
And I was having a look at it
today, and I put an old-fashioned tune
to it.
Now, we'll sing the four verses, we'll leave
the chorus out, and then, when we have
learned the tune properly, we'll sing the chorus
at the last, as a tune.
Have you got that?
Four verses, then we'll sing the chorus of
the verse.
You'll get enough.
211, listen for the tune.
Revelation 20, and we're going through from verse
11 to verse 15.
Just five verses this evening, five very wonderful
verses.
I wonder how many of us in this
class could close the book tonight and go
right through these 20 chapters that we have
done in this class over these 42 weeks.
There's an easy way of doing it.
If you remember chapter one through three, God
gave us a revelation of Christ in the
midst of the churches.
He's the Lord in the midst of the
churches.
How He looked at the local churches, how
He spoke to them, how He underlined the
things that were wrong.
And then, if you switch to chapters four
and five, the scene changes from earth to
heaven, and it's not the Lord in the
midst of the churches, it's the Lamb in
the midst of the throne.
And in chapters four and five, what wonderful
revelations we had of His glory in the
midst of the throne.
And then, if you got the hold of
this from chapter six, right through to where
we are now, from six to the end
of twenty, we've been back on earth, and
we've had the whole revelation of the great
tribulation that's gone to take place.
You see, when we were looking in the
first three chapters, the church was still on
earth.
When we were looking at the next two,
four, and five, the Lamb in the midst
of the throne, the church was in heaven.
It was still.
Thou hast redeemed us by Thy blood out
of every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and
people.
And then, when you start chapter six, it's
the four horsemen.
And then, when you come right down through
these chapters, you see the demons let loose.
You see this atomic warfare taking place, and
a third part of everything on the earth
being burnt up.
And we've come right through, and we've seen
the beast in chapter 13.
And we have seen Rome destroyed in chapter
17.
And we have seen commercial Babylon destroyed in
chapter 18.
And we did see the beast and the
false prophet destroyed in chapter 19.
And in chapter 20, we saw the old
devil put away.
And then we had just a little glimpse
of the great millennium reign when Christ would
reign in this earth for a thousand years.
And we were learning last week that when
the saints were raised, that the rest of
the dead lived not again until the thousand
years were finished.
And I don't know how some of you
believe in the general resurrection after reading that,
sir.
When you read about the first resurrection, I
don't know how you get general into that.
You wouldn't need to use the word first
if it was general, would you?
You might have used the word only.
But when you come to the phrase, the
rest of the dead live not again, they're
not general resurrection.
Now, we're going to see the rest of
the dead tonight.
We'll read this short passage through now.
Verse 11, John speaking said, And I saw
a great white throne, and him that slept
on it, from whose face the earth and
the heaven fled away, and there was found
no place for them.
And I saw the dead, small and great,
stand before God.
And the books were opened, and another book
was opened, which is the book of life.
And the dead were judged as of those
things which were written in the books according
to the works.
And the sea gave up the dead which
were in it, and death and hell delivered
up the dead which were in them.
And they were judged every man according to
their works.
And death and hell were cast into the
lake of fire.
This is the second death.
And whosoever was not found written in the
book of life was cast into the lake
of fire.
And this whole wonderful revelation and paragraph speaks
up a way forward to that great judgment
morning for the rest of the dead.
We usually call this the great white throne
judgment.
And I'm looking at it under four headings,
as you can see.
I want to talk to you just for
a moment or two about the greatness of
the throne.
And then I want to talk to you
about the vastness of the throne, because undoubtedly
this is some clout.
And we should spend more time with the
justness of the trial, because we're standing before
God and the books are opened here.
And then we shall end with the awfulness
of the torment.
Just four very simple headings of reasoning.
I think I should note exactly what John
says in verse 11.
He says, And I saw a great white
throne.
And you have no doubts after reading this
paragraph that this is the judgment throne.
The dead, small and great, are standing here
before God to be judged.
This is the judgment morning, this is the
judgment throne.
And this is the wonderful word that's translated
by our English word, great.
I don't think we get it properly.
You know, this isn't just the petty assizes,
you know, or anything like that.
Oh, not at all.
This is not the petty sessions is the
word I was thinking about.
And this isn't the court of sessions.
The petty sessions, they usually have the dead
and majesty.
And when it's the court of sessions, they
usually have the judge.
And this isn't even a county court, you
know, where they might have brought judge and
jury.
And this isn't a high court.
And that's a very solemn place to be.
And this isn't this great economic community tribunal
that they talk about with so many nobles
there.
It is God that is on the chair
here.
And the small and great stand alone before
God, one by one, and the books are
opened.
I wish we could grasp the greatness of
this.
And I don't think the word white is
put in just to fill up the passage,
you know.
I think it talks to us about the
purity, you see.
Masonic signs will do here, whether I offend
you or not, because there's a great lot
of pictures being worked by the Masonic down
through the years, you know.
But you Masonic men don't go there with
signs because God will not be looking at
them at all.
And all the secret clubs from all the
places in the world with all the secret
signs that will work here.
This is white, you know, just pure white.
Who can in America have a way, or
at least they used to have, of wearing
their watch chain, you know.
And if you open your cup and your
watch chain's on a certain way, you're okay.
And there are all those secret societies who
leave a button out of a whisker, you
know.
All those things won't work here.
So, madam, if you're up that morning and
you stand alone, poor God, He looks through
you.
You won't bluff God.
And nothing that you've ever done or nothing
that you've ever been will bluff God.
Books will be opened on you and you
will see this in a moment.
Yes, I think you can see the majesty,
and I think in a glance you can
see the purity this here.
I think there's something that we must pay
attention to here this evening.
I saw a great white throne and hung
that stuff on it.
John was taken up as a person, you
know, not only with the throne.
And he said, from whose face, he seemed
to be looking into this person's face, from
whose face the earth and the heaven fled
away and there was found no place for
them.
And I'll come back to that in a
moment.
He says, I saw the dead.
He didn't only see the throne and he
didn't only see the person on the throne.
He says, I saw the dead, small and
great.
It's quite clear.
Stand before God.
Let's get that quite clear now.
The judge on this throne is God.
That's a very important thing for the young
folks.
You know, we're going through a period where
men, right, left and center, are denying that
Jesus Christ is God.
Here's the paper I have in my hand
and it says, Obama, as you can see
the way back there, is Jesus God.
And it says here, Michael Fuller, that's his
name, who is the recently appointed principal of
the Northern Baptist College.
Got that?
Michael Fuller, who is the recently appointed principal
of the Northern Baptist College.
Now let me make that perfectly clear.
When we talk about the Northern Baptist College,
we're talking about the Baptist College that belongs
to the Baptist Union of England and Wales
and Scotland.
That's their college.
It has nothing to do with the Irish
Baptists.
We're not associated with this.
Let me state here what is here.
Michael Fuller, who is the recently appointed principal
of the Northern Baptist College, said, "'It will
not quite do to say categorically that Jesus
is God.'" That's the boy that's teaching the
kids.
He comes out into the open and he
says, "'It will not quite do to say
categorically that Jesus is God.'" And that's a
quotation, that's his own words.
"'It will not quite do to say categorically
that Jesus is God.'" And if we had
a president in the Baptist College here like
that, and he said anything like that, this
church would have to get out of the
Baptist Union, or I would get out, because
I wouldn't put up with that for two
seconds, not if I never had my breakfast
again.
But I don't think we would have any
trouble here.
Let that come to the north of Ireland
and you'll see.
We will saddle with a Baptist Union of
Ireland forever.
And I'll leave it.
My dear, we won't put up with that.
Now, for the sake of the young people
here, now let me get this over to
you, that each evening I put a bit
into the Bible class for you.
Because you're going to take this when some
of us are gone.
Is Jesus God?
That's the point.
The Rosalites will deny that at your door.
Let me bring the young people through the
book tonight, and let me show you a
few things.
Come away back to the prophecy of Isaiah,
and it's chapter nine.
The prophecy of Isaiah, chapter nine.
And you young monks try to remember these
passages, because you'll need to use them one
day, and you'll need to be able to
turn them up and let the folks see.
Now this is Isaiah nine, and it's verse
six.
And Isaiah is talking and saying, for unto
us a child is born, unto us a
son is given.
I asked a Rosalite one day, who's this?
Who's the child in the son?
Jesus Christ is good for you.
That's right.
And I want you young people to notice
this.
The child was born, but the son wasn't.
The son was given.
There is a difference.
And the child was born, and the son
was given.
You see, the father sent the son.
Oh, he just didn't become the son of
Bethlehem, you know.
We'll find that out tonight.
No, he was the son from all eternity.
For unto us a child is born, unto
us a son is given, and the government
shall be upon his shoulder in the millennia.
And his name, this is his name, his
name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor.
Now here's the next one.
Is the child, the son, the mighty God?
Why, surely that's categorically stating something.
This book categorically states that the child in
Bethlehem's manger was the mighty God.
As I would read the book isn't his
name Emmanuel, which means God with us.
The child was God.
That's all I want the young ones to
get.
The child was God.
But let's go from there to John's gospel,
and we're at John chapter 1.
John chapter 1, and it's the first verse
that I'm looking at just now.
It says, In the beginning was the birth.
You'll notice there's a capital W at birth.
In the beginning was the birth.
And that simply means, you know, that when
anything that ever had a beginning begun, the
word was.
Just get the word was there too.
You see, in the beginning was the word.
When anything that ever had a beginning began,
the word was already there.
The word was.
Then he goes on to state quite categorically,
and the word was God.
You wouldn't like to argue with a statement
like that, would you?
The word was God.
Now, when we talk about the word capital
W, who are we talking about, or what
are we talking about?
Let's be quite clear about that.
Well, you'll be clear if you go down
to verse 14.
See, verse 14.
And the word was made flesh, and dwelt
among us.
And we beheld his glory.
Because the word was a person.
We beheld his glory, the glory as of
the only begotten of the Father.
Now, you could tell me now who the
word was, couldn't you?
Well, the word was the only begotten of
the Father.
He was the only begotten son, and the
only unique son.
That's the only unique son that God ever
had.
You see, when our Lord Jesus prays in
John 17, he lifts his hands in his
eyes to heaven, and he said, Father, and
he used the word Father.
I want you to underline that.
Father, give me the glory which I had
with thee before the world was.
This is the Father and the Son.
Before the world ever was, before the hills
and all that stood ere to receive its
frame, the Son was God.
The Child was God.
The Son is God.
I should think that's quite categorical, isn't it?
Now, let's go a bit further with this.
We're in John 10 now.
John's Gospel, chapter 10.
First let me say, I did this in
one of the books for you.
This is one of the super sayings of
the Savior.
Firstly, he said, I and my Father are
one.
If you were talking about your Father, you
would say, my Father and I.
It doesn't matter at all.
But then the Father and the Son being
two equal and two eternal, it doesn't matter
who's first, does it?
And the Lord Jesus is just letting the
Jews see that.
He did this deliberately.
He said, I and my Father are one.
Now, just watch how quick the Jews got
the message.
Verse 31.
Then the Jews took up stones against the
stone.
Immediately he said that they took up stones.
Jesus answered them, many good works have I
showed you from my Father.
For which of those works do you stone
me?
The Jews answered him saying, for a good
work you stone me not, but for blots
from me.
Because that thou being a man, makest thyself
God.
They got the message, all right.
Now, remember right down through John, chapter 10,
he's talking about the shepherds.
It's one of the greatest expositions in the
book about the shepherd.
I am the good shepherd that giveth his
life for the sheep.
And for you young ones, all you've got
to do is go back to Isaiah 9
and the child is God.
And go to John 1 and the son
is God.
And go to John 10 and the shepherd
is God.
Surely this is quite categorical.
Is this the fellow that's teaching the young
preachers?
My, what a day we have come to.
Is this the new president of the Baptist
College?
They want to take him away and lost
him somewhere.
I was preaching to the police once.
You know, the night before I went to
preach to the police, I was, Mrs. Moan
wasn't too well.
I took her out for a run.
I thought that would help her.
And I went away round where the motorcycle
racing is round there, Dundrod.
And I was only trying to tell her
that the motorcycle race didn't worry me at
all, but we were going slow, very slow.
And I was saying, you know, they come
round this way and down that way.
I was only trying to lift her a
bit.
When the policeman steps up and stops me,
he said, did you see the slow sign
up the road?
I said, no, I didn't.
He said, well, there's a slow sign up
there.
Well, what does it mean?
I said, just surely it means you go
slow.
He said, yes, that's what it means.
I said, can you tell me, officer, what
speed I was going at?
He said, I would think you were traveling
about 12 miles an hour.
I said, do you want me to get
out and carry this thing?
He said, I'm telling you, that's right.
Go ahead, put it in the book, you'll
see he's putting it in.
So he writes it all down, all nice
and neatly.
Now, I put it at the bottom of
it, that I was going 12 miles per
hour.
Write that in now, you'll see it written
in.
So loony that he was, he wrote.
So I couldn't make any head in the
field with him, so I walked into the
commander the next morning up to get in
the office, and I said, you know, I
was out with Mrs. Mullen last night, and
there's a character way out there, he's done
a job.
He stopped me, and he said, I was
going 12 miles an hour, and I was
going too fast.
I said, you know, I've never been to
12 miles an hour in my life before.
This is a unique occasion, and this is
the only time I'm getting so much, you
know.
So he says, is that the job?
I say, so he lifts the pony rings
from the barracks.
Mr. Sargent, did you man out there on
the motorbike course last night?
He says, I had.
He said, did he bring a charge against
Pastor Mullen?
He says, bring a charge against Pastor Mullen.
He came in here with a hundred names
in the book.
He summonsed everybody that came around the room.
It's a police force.
God help you policemen, I'm representing you now.
So I said to the V.I. or
the commander, I said, why don't you draft
him to the Sahara?
He could look after Carmel's Warehouse.
And when they take him to the Sahara,
they want to take the principle of the
Baptist college along with them.
My, what a statement for the principal to
make.
But I want to take a step further
with you this evening.
Have a look at this now.
Let's go to 1st Timothy.
And we're at 1st Timothy, the first chapter.
And Paul, writing to Timothy, said this, verse
seventeen, 1st Timothy, chapter one, verse seventeen, Now
unto the King Eternal, immortal, invisible, the only
by God.
Now let me stop and ask the young
ones, who's the King Eternal?
Because I can tell you that the Russellites
will answer immediately, that's God.
He's the King Eternal.
Now let's go from 1st Timothy 1 to
1st Timothy 6, verse fourteen.
He's talking to Timothy the same, that thou
keep this commandment without stop, unreducable, until the
appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And there's no doubts about who we're talking
about now, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Which in his times he shall show.
Who is the Lord Jesus Christ?
Who is the bettered and only potency, the
King of kings and Lord of lords, who
only are immortality?
We were talking about the King Eternal, immortal,
and they'd call them God.
You know our Lord Jesus is the Eternal
King.
Why, his kingdom shall be forever and ever.
Now you young ones can do this quite
simply.
The Child is God, the Son is God,
the Shepherd is God, the King is God.
Never any troubles about it.
But here's something that's more solid even than
all that.
Let's go over to John's Gospel first, chapter
5, verse 22 it is.
John's Gospel, chapter 5, let's read verse 21.
John 5, 21.
For the Father raises up the dead, and
quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom
he will.
For the Father judges no man.
You got that now?
Is that quite clear to you, that the
Father doesn't do any judgment at all?
The Father judges no man, but hath committed
all judgment unto the Son.
Is it the judgment throne we're at?
Who's on the throne?
You know now, God.
It must be God the Son, because all
judgment.
You know when Paul is preaching in Acts
17, let's do this when we're at it.
Acts chapter 17, he's on Mars Hill here,
preaching way down at Athens.
He said this, vesperty, and at times of
this ignorance God winked at.
When men were making idols and falling down
to bushels, and this is, God winked at
that.
But now, more light come into the world,
now commandeth all men everywhere to repent, because
he hath appointed a day, a certain day,
in which he would judge the world in
righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained,
whereof he hath given assurance unto all men,
in that he hath raised him from the
dead.
Who'll be on the throne now?
The man that was raised from the dead,
dear.
God's Son will be on the throne.
And the book of Revelation calls him God.
Now if you've got this on your five
fingers, it's quite easy.
The Child is God, and the Son is
God, and the Shepherd is God, and the
King is God, and the Judge is God.
Surely that's catechorical, isn't it?
I don't know what they're doping dreaming about.
Let's go back to Revelation.
I thought we should take time to do
that this evening.
Revelation 20.
And we have been looking at this great
white throne, and you can see the majesty
that brought this order from this word, great,
and the purity, and the personality of God.
And we'll go into the impartiality of the
books just in a moment.
Let's try to get the vastness of the
throne, you see.
You see, last week we noticed in this
class that when the first resurrection was complete,
that all the bodies of all the saints,
of all the ages, had been raised triumphantly.
God had brought all the saints out, and
this is called the first resurrection.
It was complete then.
But it's immediately said, but the rest of
the day.
Well, that's a vast crown.
That goes right the way back from Eden's
garden, right the way down through the age
of conscience, and human government, and the ages
of law, and this great long dispensation of
grace, and the years of tribulation, and the
millennial reign for a thousand years.
And it takes all who died in their
sins, and this is the rest of the
dead, where a cloud will be, kings and
queens stand there, and popes and praises stand
there, and pastors, some who have only been
bluffers.
I don't think this fellow said that we
were talking about at all.
Pastors, and priests, and high, and low, and
rich, and poor, and black, and white, and
learned, and illiterate.
The other giant people stand there.
What an electrifying moment that will be.
He had his chance when the other fellow
did say it.
And the book shall be opened, you know.
And everything that read this for Jimmy Fart,
that we hung on the cross, were written
down by God.
And I'll tell you this, the rich, young
ruler, who thought more about silver than the
Savior, he'll be there.
What a moment it will be when Paris
stands before God the Son.
The tables will be turned now.
My, when Jesus was in Pilate's judgment hall,
Pilate was on the throne.
Jesus was clad in the robes of a
lowly Nazarene that morning, but he'll be clad
in robes of glory now.
Pilate shall not just look so big as
he stands at the Great White Throne.
But no Roman soldiers guard them.
He's on his own.
What a scene it will be.
I think the moment that I shall look
up for most is the moment when Judas
stands there.
Judas of Scariot will stand there.
And he'll have to stand while the books
are opened, and all the facts of those
years, when he walked with Christ, and he
heard all those messages, and he saw all
those miracles, and he had the greatest possible
opportunity that anyone ever had, and saw it.
But you know, it's a tremendous, dramatic thing
to think about Judas being there, and Pilate
being there, and Rothschild's wife being there, and
you can think about so many more.
But let me challenge this meeting this evening
when you are there.
None of the saints in here will be
there.
There's no judgment.
There's no condemnation for them that are in
Christ.
We were judged at Galilee.
No judgment for us.
No judgment, fears alarm us.
When are you sitting here this evening, and
you've blocked your way through life?
You've only been a bluffer.
You never were saved at all.
And in your heart and soul, you know
you're not saved.
How will your bluffer drop off you that
morning?
Because God will open the books on you.
Some, two or three men coming in tonight
said, you know, I've had you preaching for
20 years, and last Sunday night was the
best meeting I've ever been at in my
life.
How will last Sunday night's meeting have come
up through you now?
And God will look at us, and God
will say, do you remember last Sunday night?
Do you remember when I shook you in
that seat?
You should have been saved, and you hadn't
got the guts to take your stand with
Christ.
You were afraid of old ladies.
You look a small boy.
You think you'll have to face last Sunday
night's meeting yet if you don't get saved.
Of course, I'll have to face it too.
But it'll be at the judgment seat, won't
it?
Because God's going to ask me, why did
you put so much into it?
Why did you thunder it up?
Was it for the Baptist?
Was it for money?
Was it for yourself?
You know, I can stand before the Lord
now and say it was for you.
Now I have everything for you, and you're
like good as hell yet.
For a morning it'll be.
It's going to take a minute or two
to get through this judgment, you know.
Some fellow said to me once, Mr. Mullen,
all the dead that died in the sin,
stramadhan, right up to the end of the
great millennial reign, they're going to be all
dead.
It's going to take some, some space time.
He was all bothered about space.
I said, you don't need to be bothered
about space.
There's tons of space here.
You want to listen to Patrick Moore at
night.
Boy, he knows something about space.
He goes rattling on, and he tells me
that there's these great planets going around, what
a mighty, gigantic solar system, and it just
rolls about, but we're 93 million miles away
from the sun, and then he gets all
the rest of them into, and what a
space there is.
Then he comes out with this, that there's
about a million more solar systems way out
there.
You get lost.
Oh, well, when God is going to bring
the dead to stand before him, I hope
you read this properly.
It says this, I saw a great white
throne and him sat on it, from whose
face the earth and the woods should be
the heavens, far away.
Man is going to push this solar system
out of it.
He'll just take out planets and pull them
out to the winds.
There's tons of room for them.
Don't worry about the room.
That's God's problem.
He's already, he's got the space ready.
Don't worry about that.
There's plenty of room.
By the morning it will be.
You can see that they're going to stand
before God.
You know, all activity will be brought to
a standstill.
How often we've read in the 46th Psalm,
be still and know that I am God.
You only say it half the time to
be still, is that right?
So much to do, so much to grub
after.
Ah, well, this morning you'll be still.
You stand still.
God will open the books there.
You know, these books are a tremendous thing,
you know.
Let's get away from the greatness of the
throne and the vastness of the throne.
Let's come to the justness of the trial.
You see, there's always books with problems in
their minds.
Somebody said to me, you know, if I
die in my sins now, they'll put my
body in the grave, where will my soul
be in hell, I said.
You know, the rich man died and left
off his eyes in hell, the eyes of
his soul in hell, being in torment.
He said, well, there must have been fellows
who went to hell a way back there
a thousand years ago, if that's right.
He says, there have been a thousand years
in hell, what's the use of bringing them
up after the trial now?
Good thinking, isn't it?
The answer is, quite a bit of good.
You know, there are men in churches and
women in churches, and some of you might
be here, and you know you've been christened,
as they say, sprinkled with water, and the
minister said that it made you a child
of God, and you believe that.
And you've given your money, and you've given
your time, and your time in the choir,
and you were ruled up in religion, but
you never had any time for Christ.
You know, when an old religious Pharisee, through
church gore, left off his eyes in hell,
he argues with God.
He says, I shouldn't be here, it's all
wrong.
I was in the church, I gave my
money, I said my prayers, and then you
look, there I am, tell me what you
did with Christ now.
You old Pharisee, you'll go to hell.
You think that you'll get the rogues of
empty, dead religion around you and creep into
heaven when you've no time for Christ?
Not you.
You know, God would need to have another
trial, wouldn't he?
Some of these old religious Pharisees stand before
God.
God will open the book, and they'll not
be taught, you know, how to enter the
big church.
So they ask, what did they do with
God's son?
And God will let them see what they
did with his son.
Books will be opened.
Mind you, these books are tremendous.
You get the word books properly into your
mind just now.
It says, I saw the dead, small and
great, stand before God, and the books, there's
more than one there, isn't there?
The books were open.
And even after it says books, it says,
and another book was opened, which is the
book of life.
Well, there's a title on the back of
that one, so we'll keep that one in
our minds, the book of life.
You know, these books have been kept from
the very beginning of creation.
Let me tell you that Moses knew all
about them.
Let's go back to Moses.
We're in the book of Exodus, chapter 32.
Exodus, chapter 32, it says, and this is
the place where Moses came down from the
mount after talking with God, and he brought
the Ten Commandments with him, and you remember,
he found the people of God dancing round
these golden calves.
They had gone back to idolatry.
Verse 30, as it came to pass on
the morrow that Moses said unto the people,
ye have sinned a great sin, and now
I will go up unto the Lord, tell
adventure, I shall make an atonement for your
sin.
And Moses returned unto the Lord and said,
all this people have sinned a great sin,
and have made them gods of gold, yet
now if thou wilt forgive their sin.
There's a dash there.
The only time in the Bible you'll get
it, you know.
I think he hoped it, you know, and
cried.
I think he just stood and sought before
God.
I think he trembled.
He said, yet now if thou wilt forgive
their sin.
And then at last he said, and if
not, bless me, I pray thee, I'm going
to quit thy husband.
He knew all about it, didn't he?
Now when people have a leader like that,
you know, they've got a good one, he's
prepared to go to hell to save the
people.
He brought me out.
He knew all about the book, you know,
he knew the right thing all about the
book.
Brought me out of the book.
Let me tell you this, let's go to
Acts chapter 1 for the moment.
The Acts of the Apostles chapter 1.
Now this is before the church was formed.
You know that the church was formed in
Acts chapter 2 of Pentecost, and you've got
to get that into your minds here.
Acts chapter 1, you know, they're just waiting
on the Holy Ghost coming.
It says verse 12, They returned, then returned
they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet,
which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath day's journey.
And when they were come in, they went
up into an upper room where abode Peter,
and James, and John, and Andrew, and Philip,
and Thomas, Bob, Paulinew, and Matthew, James the
son of Alpheus, and Simon Philotis, and Judas
the brother of James.
These all continued with one accord in prayer.
They're having a prayer meeting.
Mind you, it wasn't a church meeting, because
the church wasn't formed.
Just a prayer meeting.
Prayer and supplication with a woman.
A woman at this prayer meeting, and Mary
the mother of angels.
It's the last time you're going to hear
about it.
She was at the prayer meeting with his
brethren.
He's not put in the forefront of them
or anything like that, she's numbered with them,
bless her.
And the night these people stood up in
the midst of the disciples and said, the
number of names together were about 120 of
them.
Men and brethren, he said, this scripture must
needs have been fulfilled which the Holy Ghost
by the mouth of David spake before consenting
Judas.
You know, old Peter knew the book, you
know, he's going all the way back to
the Psalms, which was guide for them that
took Jesus.
This scripture.
For he was numbered with us, and had
obtained part of this ministry.
Now this man purchased a field with the
reward of iniquity, and falling headlong, he burst
asunder in the midst, and all his bowels
gushed up.
And it was known unto all the dwellers
of Jerusalem, in so much as that field
is called in their proper tongue, a feldamer,
which is to say the field of blood.
It's there to this day, and I'm sure
some of you traveling in Palestine must have
been there.
For it is written in the book of
Psalms, now watch this carefully.
For it is written in the book of
Psalms, let his habitation be desolate, and let
no man dwell therein, and his bishopric, because
he was numbered as one of the office
bearers, or bishops in that crowd, his bishop
but let another take.
Now you know where he's quoting from, don't
you?
He's quoting from Psalm 69.
Now let's go back to Psalm 69, and
I'll show you just something that you need
to watch continually in the Psalms.
Psalm 69, and if you go down this
psalm carefully, you will find that bits of
it belong to Christ.
Make no mistake about that.
See the second verse, I think in deep
miles where there is no standing.
That's Calvary, all right.
I'm coming to deep waters where the floods
overflow me.
I'm weary of my crying, my throat is
dry, my eyes fail while I wait for
my God.
They that hate me without a cause are
more than the hairs of mine head.
And you can see that this was quoted
even in the days of Christ, they hated
him without a cause.
Now while there are Messianic bits in the
psalm, there's also bits that belong to David.
And David's fill is even seen in the
psalm, and you mustn't get it mixed up.
But you'll find there's a bit that belongs
to Judas in the psalm.
You can see we're still talking about Christ
when we come to verse 21.
They gave me also gall for my meals,
and in my thirst they gave me vinegar
to drink.
Some see David saying all that before Christ
was born.
And then it says down at verse 25,
let their habitation be desolate.
And sometimes the Old Testament uses the word
there when it can be the word him.
Let his habitation be desolate.
And let none dwell in their things.
And this is the bit that Peter's going
back to in Acts 1, and he's putting
it comparing to this.
Now that's very wonderful, you know.
And I want you to notice this, just
for the sake of the young people, it's
a very interesting thing.
You know, once I had an argument with
a very dear old Roman Catholic priest, and
he and I had a half a day
about this.
And he was a very clever character, and
let me say right now that he was
a gentleman.
He could talk the thing over, and if
I cornered him he just didn't lose his
temper or anything like that.
But he very cleverly took me to Acts
1, and he said Peter was quoting also
3.695. I said that's right.
He said he was quoting about Judas, and
he said let his habitation be desolate, and
let none dwell in his things.
And then he said Peter put another bit
in, let another take his discipline.
But that is not in Psalm 69.
Now are you following that?
Have another look at Acts 1 till we
get this properly now.
Have to be patient just to get the
young people correct from this.
Now here's what Peter said, verse 20, Acts
1.
For it is written in the book of
Psalms, let his habitation be desolate, let no
man dwell therein, and his bishopric let another
take.
Now when you go back to Psalm 69,
you can find the phrase alright, let his
habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell
therein.
But you cannot find the phrase, and his
bishopric, let another take.
And so the old priest was well up
in this, you know.
He said to me, you see, he being
the first pope, he was allowed to answer
the book.
That's very clever, but it's very subtle.
I said I don't think you're getting this
right sir.
So I took him back again to Acts
1.
Have another look at it, because you can
easily miss things, can't you?
And this is what I pointed out to
him.
When Peter is quoting in Acts 1, he
says, for it is written in the book
of Psalms.
Now he didn't say it is written in
Psalm 69, did he?
Actually he's quoting from two Psalms.
This is what you call a Composite Quotation.
You young people need to learn this.
Sometimes there's a Composite Quotation.
It's from two Psalms.
Oh no, he didn't have anything on his
own, I said to him.
He says, you want to see where it
is?
Let me show you.
Have a look at Psalm 109.
Psalm 109.
Talking about Judas, it says this.
Verse 8.
Let his days be few, and let another
take his office.
And the word is bishopric.
Let another take his bishopric.
Let his children be fatherless, and his wife
a widow.
Let his children be continually vagabonds and dead.
Let them seek their bread out of their
desolate places.
You know, I believe that this book tells
us a lot about Judas.
I think he was married.
I think his wife became a widow.
I think he had children.
And I think that the sins of the
father came down on the children, you know.
But let's go back to Psalm 69.
Let's get this bit correct, you know.
But the old priest had to admit now
that Peter was quoting out of the Psalms.
And then you see, I pressed him against
the wall.
I said, you know, you have the audacity
to say that he was the first person
that he could add a bit to the
book.
Don't you know that that's trash?
Oh, no, Peter wasn't adding anything.
He's quoting from two Psalms.
He's quoting from Psalm 69 and from Psalm
109.
And that's what Peter said.
It is written in the Psalms.
So you need to be very careful, don't
you?
But when he quoted about Judas here in
Psalm 69, he said in verse 25, let
his competition be desolate.
We'll read it as it is in the
Greek.
Let his competition be desolate, and let none
dwell in his tents.
And then it's said in verse 28, let
him be blotted out of the book of
the living, and not written any more with
a raxus.
You see, David knew about these books, too.
I can tell you this, you know, this
evening, that Moses knew about the books, and
that David knew about the books, and I
can tell you that Paul knew about the
books, because he talks about those people whose
names are in the book of life in
Philippians chapter 4.
Now we've got to get this quite clear.
This is the book of the living.
This is the book of life, and in
a moment I'm going to show you another
one.
It's called the Lamb's book of life.
Got all these books?
Have a good look at them on the
shelf now.
The book of the living, the book of
life, the Lamb's book of life.
You know, unless we get these distinct, and
see the difference, we're going to get into
deep waters.
Look at Revelation chapter 3 for a moment.
You see that John knew about these books,
too, you know.
Revelation 3.
I think I remember saying, when we were
going through Revelation 3, that we'll leave this
and we'll do it properly some other night,
and this is the night.
Lord Jesus is talking to the church of
Sardis, here in Revelation 3.
He says in verse 4, Thou hast a
few names even in Sardis, which have not
defiled their garments.
They shall walk with me and fight for
their worthy.
He that overcometh the same shall be clothed
in white raiment, and I will not blot
out his name out of the book of
life.
So it's quite clear that there are names
in the book of life that are going
to be blotted out.
That's quite clear.
Of course, some of the fellows who can
only see with one eye, they say this
is being lost again.
It's a pity of you, you know.
You're in the babies yet.
Let's get this quite clear now.
What are we talking about?
You know, when God opens the book of
the living, when Jesus stands there, he'll see
exactly how he lives.
Every day is recorded there, right from you
were responsible.
You know, God will make you stand there
and say, friend, and he'll turn you round,
and he'll make you see thy way in
the valley of life.
And you'll see all the times when you
were a boy, you'll see times when you
were in the ground on your back, and
you promised God to give him your life.
Some of you were soldiers standing in the
trenches before you went over the top.
You promised God if you'd get through, you
would give him your life, but you never
did it.
But he'll bring you back to it.
Your whole life will be there.
And you'll argue no more.
You'll be speechless.
There's nobody talks here.
You'll be speechless.
You'll just go to hell knowing you deserved
it.
Now, the book of life is quite different.
You see, when the baby's born into this
world, it has a connection with life.
And they keep a register up yonder.
Oh, before you have given them the name,
they know what name is to get.
And so the angels keep the book, the
book of life.
And all the names are in the book
of life, because they have a connection with
life.
It's all there.
Some of them have a short life, some
of them a long life, some of them
rich, some of them poor.
But everyone that has a connection with life,
even if it's only for ten minutes, is
in the book of life.
There's another book that they keep up there.
It's called the Lamb's book of life.
It's a little lamb book of life.
Just in case you're in any trouble about
it, have a look at Revelation 21.
That's the chapter we're going to start next
week.
Here's the last verse of it.
It's talking about the new Jerusalem, and all
the consolations and illuminations and foundations of that
wonderful home of ours is described in 21.
And it ends like this, "...there shall in
no wise enter into it anything that defileth,
neither whatsoever work of abomination nor make of
a lie, but they which are written in
the Lamb's book of life."
Oh, that's a different one, isn't it?
You see, you have to have a connection
with the Lamb to get into the Lamb's
book of life.
See, if I have a connection with the
book of life, I must have been born.
Oh, well, if I have a connection with
the Lamb's book of life, I must have
been born again.
This is the Lamb's book of life.
This is the book of life.
And let me say to all the believers,
if your name is in the Lamb's book
of life because you have trusted the Lamb,
there's never any names blotted out of the
Lamb's book of life.
You belong to the Lamb's book of life.
You see, when you belong, your name is
in the book of life.
You know, God has given you this life,
not just to make money, not just to
get power, not just to boost your ego,
you know, to prepare for eternity.
And it goes back like a violet napkin,
like a weaver's shuttle.
Now, there'll come a time when God will
talk to some of you older men and
women, or maybe young ones in this meeting
for the last time, and God will present
somebody tight in this meeting on Sunday night.
I'm not sure who it was, but I'm
right awake for that fact.
And my dear sir, one of these nights
God will shoot you, and you'll resist God,
and the spirit will strive again, and you'll
strive back, and then God will let you
go.
And when he does, he'll blot your name
out of the book of life.
You're going to have no more connection with
life.
It'll be death from there on, spiritual and
eternal.
He's going to blot your name out.
He's going to have no more to do
with you.
Now, you see, if everybody who had a
connection with life, if their names are left
in here, they must have responded to God.
Could it be that boys that don't respond,
that get their names blotted out?
Judas had his name blotted out.
Moses was prepared for that.
Ah, but God wasn't prepared for that.
Now, if you take the audit to the
judgment bar, all the names in the book
of life, in the book of life, and
all the names in the land's book of
life, wouldn't it be the same?
If you've got the audit by God, there
must be a perfect audit.
God's got all the productions.
I wonder where you'll stand.
You know what the Lord Jesus said to
his disciples once when they came home laughing,
he said, the devils, neither subject nor servant.
He said, don't rejoice in this.
Don't do that.
Don't go swanking about because of great meetings.
Rejoice in this, that your names are written
in heaven.
Well, that's my job.
They talk about the assembly, and they're talking
now about Wilson's going to take over everything.
They'll get him a new paper out of
this, I'm sure.
I don't know exactly what's going to take
place, but I'm sort of scared of it
all.
Going to take the banks over, going to
take everything over.
If he makes as big a mess of
everything that he's taken over as he's made
up to now, what a mess we'll be
in.
We're bad enough for peace, but we're going
to be worse, it seems.
It'll take God and the country to get
a working, for God to awaken the country.
Friends, never mind who comes, or who goes,
or what happens, my name's...
Let something be shut about.
It'll stay there.
It's in the Lamb's book of life.
You know, it's a terrible moment when the
books are open.
You know, I had to go through the
High Court on the Crumlin Road on one
occasion, and sit beside an old mother.
She was nearly...
she's over 70.
Her son was being tried for murder.
She said, he fiddled me.
I said, I'll sit with you.
Five, six days with such.
Every day.
And then, the Queen's Counselor, who was fed
a boy, shot the court when he said,
I'm putting him in the witness box to
answer for himself.
You see, he's got the right to keep
him out of the witness box.
The court must prove him guilty.
He doesn't need to speak at all.
But the Queen's Counselor was taking a chance
here.
Put him in the box.
And I could see he was swiped in
the face and trembling.
And the other prostituting attorney asked him a
lot of questions.
And he was doing rightly.
And then the judge said, no, no, just
a moment, just a moment.
Tell me this.
What happened when your wife came in that
night?
He had murdered his wife.
He said, well, sir, she came in through
the door at near three in the morning.
Said, she said, look, I've no ring on.
And I had a knife in this mortgage.
He said, I just jumped up and I
lifted the knife and I hunted her down
the hall.
So he said, I rammed it into your
back.
And all the time, the old judge said,
now take your time.
Just remember all that.
Every word you know.
Now take your time.
Don't hurry down that.
That's okay.
And when the judge came to sum this
up to talk to the jury, here's what
he said.
He said, I want to say to you
that this young man was provoked by his
wife.
And when she said she had no rings
on, she was out all night with the
soldiers, he lifted the knife and rushed after
her and plunged it into her back.
And I want to tell you that that's
murder.
Oh, there was another way of dealing with
her.
Several other ways.
So be she what she may be.
He's not allowed to murder.
And that's murder.
Didn't leave the jury any problems.
Jury's not long.
That's where we're in again.
And you know, I can hear this old
woman's heart thumping.
Sat close up against her, you know, to
give her just a wee bit of comfort
if I could.
And I can hear it thumping.
And it's racing on.
And then the clerk of the court, and
he doesn't have any feelings at all.
He's useless.
He's went about there.
He comes over to the jury.
It's his part now, you know.
He says to the poor man, have you
come to a verdict?
And the poor man said, yes, my lord.
Have you a verdict?
This fellow shouts the buzz a bit.
And then the old poor man, he's feeling
this, feverish shaking.
He just looked up and said, yes, sir.
My lord.
Everybody goes silent.
You can hear the clock ticking on the
wall.
Young fellow standing up, grabbing the bar of
the document till his fingers are white.
And the judge places on a black cap.
It's the first and last time I've ever
seen this.
Folds his hands slowly.
You've been found guilty by your own countrymen.
You shall be hanged by the neck until
you're dead.
And your body will be buried in the
precincts of the prison.
And may God have mercy on your soul.
And you can hear an old man sobbing.
You can feel the shaking.
It's the judgment morning.
What are you going to do when they
open the books on you?
It's all written there, you know.
Now you stand condemned, and then down.
That's where you'll be.
Down.
Did you see how our chapter ended this
evening?
Well, I'll tell you, and I don't mean
to take any more time of it.
It says, verse 15, who forever was not
found written in the book of life was
cast into the lake of fire.
Doesn't make a matter who you are.
Doesn't make a matter where you come from.
Friends, that's the judgment morning.
If you're on stage in this meeting, don't
leave until you get safe.
Don't run away anymore.
Get safe tonight.
We're singing two verses.
I particularly choose this hymn.
It's a difficult one to sing.
The good singers will help us.
Four hundred and forty-two.
Park sinner, while God from on high doth
entreat thee, and warnings with accents of mercy
doth blend.
Give ear to his voice, lest in judgment
he meet thee.
The harvest is passing.
Summer will end.
And we're singing the first and last verses.
Listen to the last one.
The Savior will call thee in judgment before
him.
Oh, bow to his scepter and make him
thy friend.
Now yield him thy heart and make his
to adore him.
The harvest is passing.
Summer will end.
Four hundred and forty-two, please.
In thy fear and with thy blessing, for
thy name's sake.
Amen.