The four Scriptures read bear on the effect that the precious truth of the near return of Jesus should have in our lives and in our pathways today. The first Scripture is really an example of how to live. The second Scripture is a warning. The third Scripture is a declaration. The fourth Scripture is an admonition.
I thought in the prophet we have a word for the bridegroom and the bride, and a word for all of us. I trust everyone here has been clothed with this garment of salvation. It comes out of heaven’s wardrobe, and it is the same for every one who believes in the Lord Jesus. Luke 15 would show us just what is in the heart and mind of God. God’s house is down here, where He is delighting to bring out the best robe and clothe every repenting sinner, and I believe our dear brother and sister would rejoice to have the gospel enter into this happy occasion, and we appeal to everyone here that their heart may be turned towards the Saviour, the One Who has, as we have sung (hymn 99), done so much that He might secure what is for Himself.
I have read these Scriptures in Daniel and Nehemiah because they speak of two lovers of God who made certain personal commitments to serve their God.
In Christian life there are many paradoxes. Maybe, for the young, that is a long word; a paradox means something that appears to be contradictory – two opposite things which are equally true. I want to speak about a paradox tonight. For the Christian is not to change certain things, but on the other hand he is to change.
What we have read here this afternoon are Scriptures about three river crossings. Now, the Christian life, as we know, is a journey, an experience. There are stages of growth in the Christian life, and I thought we could firstly look at the meaning of these three river crossings, and then see something else about them.
This address covers some of the things that Scripture says cease not. Firstly, of God’s covenant with the creation, “Henceforth, all the days of the earth, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease.” Then, about the living creatures who “cease not day and night saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty.” Thirdly, about a woman who, Jesus said, “has not ceased kissing my feet.” And, finally, about the apostles who “ceased not teaching and announcing the glad tidings that Jesus was the Christ.”
This is a Bible Reading based on Numbers 19, 20 and 20, and shows us how necessary the Holy Spirit is to our christian experience
Most of us have known something of our relationship with the Lord over a much longer period than the three years, or thereabouts, that Philip, the disciple, had accompanied the Lord! We have the advantage of the indwelling Spirit. But how well we know divine Persons – know the Lord; know the Father; and indeed know the Spirit of God? Soon, very soon, all or most of us here will be there in the eternal scene, dwelling with Them eternally. How well do we know Them now?
This Address helps us to get some impression of the glory of the vessel that is for the heart of Christ and for the heart of God. We do not want to make everything of the vessel itself, but of the One to Whom it belongs. The assembly belongs to Christ – the assembly is for God. The concept is His, and His alone.
Nothing is calculated to stir the heart of the lover of the Lord Jesus more than the consideration of His shed blood. The moment when His blood was poured out stands out in the history of time and eternity. What a moment!