Classic Quotes From Classic Ministers

Classic Quotes From Classic Ministers

Learning from Failure 

Luke 22:31-34

The disciple Peter was a man of great faith and bold action. But as readers of the New Testament know, his brash style sometimes led him to make humiliating mistakes. More than once, this disciple had to wear the label of "miserable failure" rather than that of "obedient servant."

We can all relate when it comes to falling short of expectations. Obedience to God is a learning process, and failure is a part of our development as humble servants. When we yield to temptation or rebel against God's authority, we realize that sin has few rewards, and even those are fleeting.

Failure is an excellent learning tool, as Peter could certainly attest. Through trial and error, he discovered that humility is required of believers (John 13:5-14); that God's ways are higher than the world's ways (Mark 8:33); and that one should never take his eyes off Jesus (Matt. 14:30). He took each of those lessons to heart and thereby grew stronger in his faith. Isn't that Romans 8:28 in action? God caused Peter's failures to be put to good use as training material because the disciple was eager to mature and serve.

God doesn't reward rebellion or wrongdoing. However, by His grace, He blesses those who choose repentance and embrace chastisement as a tool for growth.

We would probably all prefer to grow in our faith without ever making a mistake before God's eyes, but we cannot deny that missteps are instructive. Failure teaches believers that it is much wiser and more profitable to be obedient to the Lord. That's a lesson we all should take to heart.

~Dr. Charles F. Stanley~

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Living in Resurrection Power

By Paul Blackham

Jesus Christ took on our messed-up human life, which belongs to this old dying age, and crucified it. He condemned our old corrupt life to death on the cross and then brought back from the dead a new kind of life that delights the Living God. The Apostle Paul had to re-value his life after he met the risen Lord. Everything that had seemed to be valuable turned out to be worthless, and the very things he had hated and attacked turned out to be worth more than the world. This careful revaluation of our lives is at the heart of living in the power of the resurrection of Jesus. If our old life is put to death, then nothing of this old life has eternal value. To be friends with this world is to be an enemy of God (James 4:4). The power of the resurrection lifts us from death to life, but this is precisely what causes us to be hated by the world. Yet, in being hated by the world, in treating as dung all that the flesh values, we are in deep fellowship with Jesus. If we want to know the power of Jesus’ resurrection, then we must first meet Him at the cross. The power of His resurrection came only after Jesus had experienced the suffering, rejection and death of the cross. That is the path that He walked, and we find ourselves close to Him when we walk that same path: from the cross to the empty tomb; from repentance and rejection to resurrection. _____________________ Today's Reading: 2 Samuel 12; Luke 16 Today's Thoughts: Faithful with Little, Given Much "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?” Luke 16:10-12 There is an ice cream man who has come to sell ice cream in my neighborhood for at least 8 years. His van is beat up with bald tires, poor paint, bumps and bruises on the exterior, well-worn and torn up seats inside, and a very loud stereo blasting the ice cream theme song. The music sings to “Do your ears hang low? Do they travel to and fro? Can you tie them in a knot? Can you tie them in a bow?” The song plays over and over, very loudly. And I can hear that song from blocks away. The ice cream man can barely speak English but has a great countenance and has smiled for 8 years, with the facial wrinkles to prove it. My heart has broken for this man. I have told my children to go and buy ice cream to support him. It seems like a hard job for not too much in return, but his attitude is so good and he is so faithful to do his job well. Well, the other evening I went for a walk. I heard that familiar sound down the block. As I was walking by, to my surprise, the ice cream man got a brand new truck! It was the same man, same products, same advertisements on the side and the same song but a new truck. I was so happy for him. God spoke to my heart while walking past the truck and explained something to me. When we receive the Holy Spirit in power, God uses the same person with the same personality and same body to be empowered in a whole new way. This man was faithful with little, so he has been given much (Luke 16:10). We too will receive more and more opportunities to be used by God in the power of the Holy Spirit if we are faithful with the smaller tasks He has given us. By being faithful in the little tasks, He can trust us with bigger ones. The choices we make in every day living matter to God. Are we smiling? Are we content? Are we faithful? Same person, same product, same advertisements but with a new power and passion that comes from a faithful heart. God is so good. But how we choose to live the every day job is up to us.

The Hope of the Church # 4

The Hope of the Church # 4

I gather from this passage that Jesus Christ is "the same yesterday, and for ever," and that when He returns He will be the same wonderful Saviour that He was when He was here on earth. And I shall look into His eyes, and they will be human eyes. I shall listen to the words that fall from His lips, and they will be human lips. I shall pour the story of my love and adoration into His ears, and they will be human ears. I shall feel the touch of His hands upon me, and they will be human hands. For the Man, Christ Jesus, abides for evermore. The Russelites and the Ruthfordites can have a dead, ghostly kind of a Christ if they like, but as for me:

"I shall know Him, I shall know Him,
As redeemed by His side I shall stand.
I shall know Him, I shall know Him,
By the print of the nails in His hands."

Yes, He will be the same Jesus. Why, the last word that ever  came ringing down from Heaven before the volume of inspiration was closed, was this, "Surely, I come quickly." And the apostle John, speaking for the whole church, responded, "Even so come, Lord Jesus." This is our hope - the personal return of our Blessed, adorable Saviour.

"The Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout." Now, mark you, it does not say that His feet are going to touch the Mount of Olives on that occasion. That will be; but this is something a little different. Follow it carefully. We gather from this passage, and from 1 Corinthians 15 that the Lord is going to descend from Heaven, and He is coming down into the region of the atmosphere of this earth, and He will come with an awakening shout, and the voice of the archangel will be heard, and the trump of God will sound, "and the dead in Christ shall rise first." Literally it may be rendered "the dead in Christ will stand up first." The word that is used throughout the New Testament for resurrection is that of standing up. I think it is something like this. Here is a company of soldiers in the battlefield. They have been fighting hard, and they have thrown themselves down on the ground and they are asleep. Suddenly the trumpet sounds, and they spring to their feet and then perhaps another trumpet sounds, and away they march. And so when the Lord descends from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, in an instant the dead in Christ stand up; no longer are they sleeping in the dust. You say that is an impossibility. With God nothing is impossible. If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, we need not be afraid to believe the rest of it. He was the first-fruits of them that slept. He came forth from the tomb, and the dead shall come forth from the tomb in their glorious resurrected bodies.

The Lord Jesus will descend from Heaven, and the dead will be raised, and the living changed at the last trump. There are many very earnest and sincere Christians who tell us that this last trump is the seventh trump of the Book of Revelation, and that the Church will be on the earth all through the blowing of the trumpets of the Tribulation, and at the sounding of the last trumpet the Church will be raised. But may I say as one who can claim to have some knowledge of the teaching of this Book, for I give the first place in my thinking, that the Book of the Revelation was not written when this Epistle was written, and, therefore, the apostle Paul cannot be referring to the seventh trump of the Book of Revelation. That book was not written until about forty years afterwards. And, further, he refers here not to the trump of an angel, but to the trump of God. The trumpets of the angels in the Revelation give us the various stages of the Tribulation, period, and they finally come to the culmination which ushers in the Kingdom. What we, as the people of God, are waiting for is the shout from Heaven, and the voice of the archangel, and the sounding of the trump of God which will close up this present dispensation. Therefore, it is called the last trump.

What is to take place? The dead in Christ will stand up at His Coming, clothed with their resurrection bodies, and prepared to meet the King. "Then we which are alive and remain shall he caught up together, with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air." There will be a generation of believers living on the earth when our Lord returns. You and I may be in that generation. Those who know their Bibles best are more concerned about the signs of the times than those who do not and we believe that the hour when this passage is to be fulfilled must be drawing very near. And we may be those of whom the apostle speaks "which are alive and remain" and who will be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air." How wonderful is the thought! Oh, the separations that death has made; the way in which it has broken families, as well as individual hearts. But when Jesus comes the dead in Christ will all be raised, and the living in Christ will be changed, and we will be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air.

~Harry A. Ironside~

(continued with # 5)

Classic Quotes From Classic Ministers

Classic Quotes From Classic Ministers

Where Satan Will Attack First

Yesterday we began a series of devotionals looking at when we can expect Satan to attack us.  Revelation 12:1-5 provides insight into the first time he will attack,

Now a great sign appeared in heaven:  a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars.  Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.  And another sign appeared in heaven:  behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.  His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth.  And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.  She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron.  And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.

The child in this passage is the Lord Jesus Christ, the woman represents the nation of Israel, and the dragon that wanted to devour the Child as soon as He was born is our adversary the devil.

It was the devil who was behind King Herod commanding that all of the male children two years old and younger be slaughtered.  It was only because Joseph was warned by God in a dream that he, Mary, and Jesus escaped from Herod's clutches.

What I want you to see here is that the battle came to Jesus as soon as He was born.  And I think we should expect battle as soon as a person is born again, as soon as someone comes into God's family.

We need to be prepared to help protect and defend those who are new babes in Christ. 

~Bayless Conley~

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Now may the God of peace himself make you completely holy and may your spirit and soul and body be kept entirely blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is trustworthy, and he will in fact do this. —1 Thess 5:23-24

Many years since I saw that “without holiness no man shall see the Lord.” I began by following after it and inciting all with whom I had intercourse to do the same. Ten years after, God gave me a clearer view than I ever had before of the way to obtain it; namely, by faith in the Son of God. And immediately I declared to all, “We are saved from sin, we are made holy by faith.” This I testified in private, in public, and in print, and God confirmed it by a thousand witnesses. I have continued to declare this for above thirty years, and God has continued to confirm my work.
—John Wesley in 1771

“I knew Jesus, and He was very precious to my soul; but I found something in me that would not keep sweet and patient and kind. I did what I could to keep it down, but it was there. I besought Jesus to do something for me, and, when I gave Him my will, He came to my heart, and took out all that would not be sweet, all that would not be kind, all that would not be patient, and then HE shut the door.”
—George Fox

My whole heart has not one single grain, this moment, of thirst after approbation. I feel alone with God; He fills the void; I have not one wish, one will, one desire, but in Him; He hath set my feet in a large room. I have wondered and stood amazed that God should make a conquest of all within me by love.
—Lady Huntington

“All at once I felt as though a hand—not feeble, but omnipotent; not of wrath, but of love—was laid on my brow. I felt it not outwardly but inwardly. It seemed to press upon my whole being, and to diffuse all through me a holy, sin-consuming energy. As it passed downward, my heart as well as my head was conscious of the presence of this soul-cleansing energy, under the influence of which I fell to the floor, and in the joyful surprise of the moment, cried out in a loud voice. Still the hand of power wrought without and within; and wherever it moved, it seemed to leave the glorious influence of the Saviour’s image. For a few minutes the deep ocean of God’s love swallowed me up; all its waves and billows rolled over me.”
—Bishop Hamline

Holiness—as I then wrote down some of my contemplations on it—appeared to me to be of a sweet, calm, pleasant, charming, serene nature, which brought an inexpressible purity, brightness, peacefulness, ravishment to the soul; in other words, that it made the soul like a field or garden of God, with all manner of pleasant fruits and flowers, all delightful and undisturbed, enjoying a sweet calm and the gentle vivifying beams of the sun.
—Jonathan Edwards

“Love’s resistless current sweeping
All the regions deep within;
Thought and wish and senses keeping
Now, and every instant clean:
Full salvation! Full salvation!
From the guilt and power of sin.”

~L. B. Cowman~

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The Hope of the Church # 3

The Hope of the Church # 3

Oh no, He is not telling us here that the soul is sleeping, that the spirit is unconscious. He is speaking of the tired, weary, worn bodies of the people of God, put to sleep till Jesus comes. So He says, "I do not want you to be ignorant concerning those which are asleep, that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope." We are not forbidden to sorrow. Our blessed Lord when He was here on earth was a Man of Sorrows; He was acquainted with grief. He looks in sympathy upon us in our sorrow. "In all their afflictions He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them." We are not taught in scripture that we must adopt a cold, hard, stoical attitude when bereavement enters our home, and snatches our dear ones away. Why, the sisters of Bethany wept at the death of Lazarus, and Jesus wept with them. He has bidden us weep with those who weep at a funeral, and rejoice with those who rejoice at a wedding. We are to enter into the joys and sorrows of one another. What He does tell us is that our griefs and sorrows are not hopeless. These people of Thessalonica, so far as this world was concerned. had no hope whatever of meeting their departed loved ones again in their unsaved state. But to the Christians he says regarding those who sleep in Jesus they were not to sorrow as others which had 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." We do believe that - don't we? Listen to me; if you do not believe it, you are not a Christian. I do not know if you have any professing Christians on this side of the water who do not believe it, but we have some on our side. They tell us that you can be a Christian, and you do not need to believe in the Resurrection of Christ; that in some way or other His Spirit is permeating men; that His teaching is living after Him, and doing men good. One of our preachers from New York speaking over the radio, referred to Matthew Arnold's well-known statement when he said that the Body of Jesus still sleeps in a Syrian tomb, but that His soul goes marching on. People said, How magnificent! magnificent nonsense!! It's a "John Brown body"sort of thing. If the Body of Jesus still sleeps in a Syrian tomb, then, according to First Corinthians 15, "your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins." We begin with the truth of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." So I take it that you cannot begin as a Christian until you recognize the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. "He was delivered for our offences, and He was raised again for our justification." "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him," or, "will God lead forth with Him." What is He referring to? Why, simply this, that in the Old Testament it is written, "The Lord my God shall come and all the saints with Thee." And in the New Testament He tells us the same wonderful truth. And so the Apostle says that when the Lord Jesus returns again, when He comes forth to reign, when He sets up His glorious Kingdom, He is going to bring with Him all His saints, both those who have died in the past and those who will be living at the time. They are coming back with Him; they are going to be manifested with Him in glory, and the word will be fulfilled: and "every eye shall see Him and they also which pierced Him; and all kindreds of the earth wail because of Him." But He will not come alone; He will come with all His redeemed, the entire heavenly company; those which have been put to sleep by Jesus will God lead forth with Him. The apostle John in his Book of the Revelation, written some forty years after Paul wrote this Letter, described symbolically His coming leading forth His saints. He pictured Him as a mighty warrior, whose Name is called the Word of God, who is clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, riding upon a white horse. And John says, "The armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean." It is a picture of the heavenly host returning with Christ to set up His heavenly Kingdom.

But how is this going to be? You say, the bodies of our dear ones have crumbled away to dust, and their souls are with Christ, and if they are not coming back as disembodied spirits, how then will God lead them forth with Him? The apostle explains it in another verse: "For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout." "The Lord Himself." There is something lovely about that. "The Lord Himself." I like that word - don't you? It is not mere symbolism. He is not talking about the death angel, he is talking about "the Lord Himself." Before He went away He said to His disciples, "In My Father's house there are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you I will come again, and receive you unto Myself, that where I am there ye may be also." You remember those two shining ones who appeared on the Mount of Olives just after Christ was taken up into Heaven? This same Jesus shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into Heaven." "This same Jesus." I love those words. "This same Jesus." Nineteen hundred years in the glory have not changed Him in the least. He is the same today as when He was here on earth. He is glorified now, but in His own Person, His character, He is the same blessed, living, loving, gracious, compassionate Lord that He was when He was here on earth. When I was a boy they used to sing in the Sunday school:

"I think, when I read that sweet story of old
When Jesus was here among men,
How He took little children as lambs to His fold,
I should like to have been with Him then,
I wish that His hands had been laid on my head
That His arms had been thrown around me.
And that I might have seen His kind look when he said,
Let the little ones come unto me!"

~Harry A. Ironside~

(continued with # 4)

Classic Quotes From Classic Ministers

Classic Quotes From Classic Ministers

The Gift of Exhortation

Romans 12:3-8

The church is filled with people who have different passions and interests. Christ designed His body to function this way by supplying various spiritual gifts by which His work is accomplished. Yet sometimes these differences can lead to misunderstandings because we each see through the lens of our own gift.

Exhortation is one of those spiritual gifts that can be misconstrued. People with this gifting may use strong words to urge fellow believers toward spiritual maturity. Sometimes this involves identifying foundational problems like pride, selfishness, or a desire for control and prescribing corrective steps based on biblical principles. Other times, exhortation may include an explanation of the blessings of obeying the Lord as well as warnings about the consequences of disobedience.

You may have noticed this gift is often given to pastors who regularly exhort God’s people from the pulpit, but there are also individuals in the congregation who may have this spiritual gift. As Christians, we need to hear the truth about ourselves and how we are living, yet sometimes we may be resistant. Perhaps we think the exhorter has oversimplified our situation or is trying to “help” God out. Or maybe the way in which the advice is given strikes us as overconfident. At other times, we may question how Scripture is applied or doubt the genuineness of the one who exhorts us.

Although we should always compare what we hear with God’s Word, we must not reject correction simply because we don’t want to hear it. Wisdom comes with careful consideration of counsel as we hold firmly to the Word.

~Dr. Charles F. Stanley~

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What a contrast!

("Every Day!" Author unknown)

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way!" Psalm 139:23, 24

What a contrast there is between a man of this world--and a child of God! 

The one wishes to avoid the scrutiny of God--and the other desires and prays for it. 

The one loves sin, and cherishes it--the other abhors sin, and desires to be delivered from it. 

The one walks hand in hand with iniquity--the other grieves that he bears about with him a body of sin and death.

It is the earnest desire of all who are born of God, and made partakers of the Divine nature--to be delivered from the power of sin that dwells in them. They would have no lust spared--and no corruption unmortified. 

Chosen by the Father in eternity past, 
redeemed by the precious blood of Christ and justified freely by His grace
--they would also be sanctified by His Spirit.

They would be holy as He is holy--and their desires will eventually be satisfied! He who has begun a good work in them, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. He will present them "faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy!"

"Search me, O God, and try my thoughts,
 And make my heart sincere;
 Let sin have no dominion, Lord,
 And keep my conscience clear!

"Make me to walk in Your commands,
 'Tis a delightful road;
 Nor let my head, or heart, or hands,
 Offend against my God!"

"The desire of the righteous will be granted!" Proverbs 10:24 

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That spiritual chemistry which turns all metals into gold!

"But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night." Psalm 1:2 


William Bates: "Meditation is the serious exercise of the mind, whereby our thoughts are fixed on the observation of spiritual things, in order to practice them. Meditation is that spiritual chemistry which turns all metals into gold!" 


Arthur Pink: "Reader! You will derive far more benefit from a single verse of Scripture read slowly and prayerfully, and duly meditated upon--than you will from ten chapters read through hurriedly! Meditation is nearly a lost art. Lack of meditation is at the root of most of our spiritual troubles."


Edmund Calamy: "The reason why all the sermons we hear do us no more good, is for lack of divine meditation. For it is with sermons as it is with food--it is not having food upon your table that will nourish you, but you must eat it. And you must not only eat it, but digest it--or else your food will do you no good. 
So it is with sermons: it is not hearing sermons that will do you good, but pondering in your hearts what you hear, and digesting them by meditation. One sermon well digested, well meditated upon--is better than twenty sermons without meditation! I am confident the great reason why we have so many hunger-starved Christians who are lean in grace and lean in practice, though they hear sermon upon sermon--is because they digest nothing. They never ponder and meditate upon what they hear! There are some men sick with a disease that makes them vomit up whatever they eat--the food never does them any good. So is the custom of many of you: you hear a sermon, you go away, and never think of it afterward. This is just like food that you vomit up! That is the reason why you are so lean in grace--though you are so fully fed with sermons!" 

The Hope of the Church # 2

The Hope of the Church # 2

This truth seems to have gripped these Thessalonians, they revelled in it, they could think of little else. Some became so occupied with it that they were not much good for the ordinary affairs of life. There is always a danger of going too far in regard to any truth of God, and the apostle Paul was this. "Since we have been there some of them have died; they have fallen asleep in Christ, and their friends are disconsolate; they feel that they won't be here to welcome the King when He comes. They feel that they have missed so much that their hearts are really broken because of it." And Paul says, "I will just write them a Letter, and clear that up." So in the course of this Letter, he expounds the part that both those who have died before Christ's return, and those who are living at His Coming, will have in the glorious future day. "I would not have you ignorant", he says, "concerning them which are asleep." What does he mean by "those which are asleep?"  Does he mean when our dear ones in Christ close their eyes to the scenes of earth, when the body is dead, that we put them away, body, soul, and spirit, in the tomb, and that the whole man sleeps in utter unconsciousness until the glorious morning of the first resurrection? No, he certainly does not mean that, because that would contradict very definitely what he taught elsewhere. Take that wonderful passage in the third of Ephesians. He says,  "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named." Where does he locate the family of God? In only two places - in heaven and on earth. If he were a soul-sleeper he would have said, in the grave and on earth. But he did not say that. He locates those who have left this scene as in heaven. There is not even a third place. I look up a paper in our country not long ago that stirred me to preach a sermon. It had an article beseeching the faithful to come through with more cash, because the poor souls in purgatory are suffering so dreadfully because of the depression that has swept all over the world. And so I preached a sermon one Sunday on the subject, "What can we do for the poor souls in purgatory?" We had over five thousand people to hear it, and when we got looking into the Book to find out about it we found out that there was not any soul in purgatory, and that the only purgatory there is in the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which purged our consciences from dead works to serve the living God. No, Paul does not locate  any of the believers in purgatory, and he does not leave them unconscious in the grave. He speaks of "the whole family in heaven and on earth." And you remember that elsewhere he says that the believer who dies is absent from the body - not asleep in the body - and is present with the Lord. And he says that he himself had a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better. How did he know that? Was it simply the word of an inspired man who had been commanded so to write? No, not that alone; he knew it by practical experience.

We say sometimes, "No one has ever been to Heaven and come back to tell us what it is like? We are wrong, for He had been there. He says; "I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago (whether in body I cannot tell, or whether out of the body I cannot tell; God knoweth) such an one caught up to the third heaven. How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter." Now, mark you, the apostle clearly gives us to understand there that a man can be conscious and out of the body. For when he had this experience he says a it were, "If I had a body, I am not conscious of it; and if I was out of the body, I did not miss it!" That helps me in regard to my friends who have gone to Heaven. He saw and heard something; he was thoroughly conscious, and he was caught up into Paradise. Paradise is a Persian word, it is used three times in the New Testament. It means "a royal garden." Paul says, "I was caught up; and I found myself in a royal garden." I never go into one of your beautiful English gardens without saying, "This is a little, wee bit of Paradise." Paul found himself in a scene of ineffable beauty and glory. Then he says, "I heard something, I heard unspeakable things which it is not lawful for a man to utter." So he was conscious; he could see and hear. I was in a meeting down in Florida some few years ago, and on one night each week we used to have questions and answers. Among the questions sent up was this one. "Will you please tell us what the unspeakable things were which Paul heard when he was caught up into the third heaven?" I had to admit that I could not tell. Why Paul himself could not tell. In other words, it was so wonderful that he could not put it into our language. Yet he heard it at the time and understood.

~Harry A. Ironside~

(continued with # 3)

The Hope of the Church # 1

The Hope of the Church # 1

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

"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 then also which sleep in Jesus will God bring him. For this we say unto you by 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, the 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."

It is a very interesting fact, I think, that this first Letter to the Thessalonians is the earliest of the writings of the Apostle Paul which the Spirit of God has preserved for the edification of the Church; and yet it abounds in reference to the great doctrine of the Second Advent of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then, too, it was written to a very young Church. Some people are inclined to think of the doctrine of the Lord's Return as something so difficult to understand, and as a truth so deep, and so hard for simple men to lay hold of, that it should only be proclaimed to Christians who are well advanced, and who are mature in their experience, and who have a very full understanding of the divine truth. But this Church to whom Paul wrote this Letter was composed of very young Christians. Only a few months before the writing of the Letter, at the most, they had been in the darkness and ignorance of heathendom. A few, perhaps, were Jews who had been brought to a saving knowledge of Christ, but the majority of these people in the Church at Thessalonica were heathen who had been reached by the Gospel, and who were now rejoicing in Christ Jesus. Then you remember that the Apostle Paul was only permitted to spend a very brief period with them. Luke speaks of his preaching in the synagogue for three Sabbath days, but how much longer he was there we are not told, possibly a little longer. Then persecution broke out, and in obedience to the Lord's word, "If they persecute you in one city, flee to another" (the apostle did not then have the ultra-dispensational teacher of today to tell him that the Lord's words did not then apply to him) he left there, and went on to Berea, and then on to Athens; and he left Timothy behind him to care for the young Church, and then to report. As a result of a letter that came to him at Athens he was so exercised that he sent Timothy back, and he could not rest until he returned the second time, and told him how well they were getting on. It was a wonderful report he brought back. Paul was fearful lest these young believers might have been disturbed by the enmity of the unbelieving Jews, and of their former friends in heathenism, who were opposed to the Gospel of Christ. But when Timothy returned he said something like this: "You know, Paul, it is remarkable the way they are going on. They are not only standing steadfast, and holding fast the Word of truth, but they are holding forth the Word of life. They have all turned preachers, and everywhere in Thessalonica they are carrying the message, and not only there but into Macedonia they have gone, and into other parts and into Achaia, and are telling out the story with great assurance." And he must have added, "You know, Paul, they are greatly distressed over one thing. You remember you told them that the Lord Jesus Christ was coming again to reign as King." He did proclaim that truth, and persecution broke out, and the accusation was made against Paul that he was a disturber of the peace. His enemies said of him, "He is preaching another King, one Jesus." And if Paul were preaching another King, one "Jesus" then he was preaching the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. When our Lord Jesus was baptized in the Jordan and anointed with the Spirit He was set apart for three offices - prophet, priest, and King. He exercised His prophetic office here on earth. He is exercising His priestly office yonder in the glory. But His is to reign as King when He comes back again, when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our God, and of His Christ.

~Harry A. Ironside~

(continued with # 2)

Antichrist

Antichrist

This name introduces to us one of the most solemn and foreboding subjects in the Word of God. An antichrist - one absolutely opposed to Jesus Christ - we are told, shall come (John 2:18). The spirit of antichrist is already in the world, denying the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh, either in the past (1 John 4:3) or in the future (2 John 7).

This spirit of antichrist, now possessed by many, will culminate in one person, the antichrist, who will deny both the Father and the Son (1 John 2:22).

That he is a single individual is plainly taught in 2 Thess. 2, where he is called "that man of sin ... the son of perdition" _ "that wicked," the lawless one.

As Christ is the express image of God (Heb. 1:3), so it appears that antichrist is the culminating manifestation of satan, "the prince of this world" (John 14:30). His coming is "after the working of satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness..." (2 Thess. 2:9-10).

He will be a "strong delusion," to them who believe not the truth (2 Thess. 2:3-12).

This mystery of lawlessness already worked in the days of the apostle, but there has been a hindering power, which, we believe, is the Holy Spirit, in His present manifestation, or office (as the reprover of the world and gatherer of the Church). When He, the restraining one, is taken out of the way, at the rapture of the Church, then shall the mystery be unveiled, and the lawless one be revealed (2 Thess. 2:7-8).

He will be received, even by the Jews (John 5:43), who, having returned to their own land and rebuilt their temple, will make a treaty with him, called by the prophet a covenant with death and an agreement with hell (Isaiah 28:14-18). And antichrist will exalt himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God (the rebuilt temple) and sheweth himself that he is God. (2 Thess. 2:4). Doubtless he is the king described in Daniel 11:36), who shall do according to his own will and magnify himself above every god. Again, he is seen as the beast described in Revelation 13:11-18 whose number is the number of man, 666, and who performs "great wonderes...and deceiveth them that dwell upon the earth," by means of his miracles, and has the power to kill those who will not worship the image of the beast. And again he is seen in lucifer, or the day star, of Isaiah 14:12-16) of whom the king of Babylon was a type, and who weakens the nations, exalts his "throne above the stars of God," and sits "upon the mount of the congregation."

Such, in brief, is the awful picture which Scripture gives us of this great opponent of Christ. Many think that he has already been manifested in Antiochus Epiphanes - or the Popes of Rome - or Mohammed and his successors, all of which we regard as erroneous. The Popes have received their exaltation and power, as the pretended vicars of Christ, and not as His opponent. It is a great mistake, therefore, to call them the antichrist, or the opposing one. Antiochus was doubtless a type of antichrist. And in his opposition to the worship of Jehovah, his sacrifice of the hated swine in the temple and his merciless treatment of the Jews, he has given us a miniature picture of what the final antichrist will do. But he passed away long before Paul and John wrote of the antichrist to come. Likewise Mohammed may be in some sense a type, but that is all.

No, antichrist is still in the future, and he will not be manifested until the true Church has been taken away, at the rapture, as described in 1 Thess. 4:16-18). For Paul says "We beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him" that is, by this very fact of the rapture, of which he had previously written them, and which must first occur before the apostasy should come to the full, and the man of sin be revealed. This is confirmed by verse 7. (1 Thess. 2:1-2; 7; 1 Thess. 4:16-18). The Holy Spirit who, while He is gathering the Bride (1 Cor. 12:12-13); Eph. 4:30), reproves the world of sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16:8), will, when He is taken out of the way, catch up the Bride to meet the Lord in the air, leaving the apostate church, adulterous Israel and the ungodly world, to believe a lie (2 Thess. 2:11), and then shall the lawless one be revealed. Praise God, that the Church is kept from this awful hour of temptation (Luke 21:36); Rev. 3:10). She shall be with her Lord (1 Thess. 4:17-18; 5:9-10), while the world is ruled by antichrist.

But, though antichrist shall so greatly exalt himself and rule over the world with such power, yet "shall he come to his end, and none shall help him" (Dan. 11:45). The Lord shall destroy him "with the brightness of His coming" (2 Thess. 2:8), when He shall come, with His saints, to execute judgment upon the ungodly (Jude 14:15). Yes, he shall be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit." They that see him shall narrowly look upon him and consider him, saying, "is this the man that made the earth to tremble, and did shake kingdoms, that made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof?" (Isaiah 14:15-17).

We would call special attention to the fact that antichrist denies the Father and the Son and that the Greek words in 2 Thess. 2:7-8 could be rendered "the mystery of lawlessness". This, we think, gives an alarming significance to the atheistic and lawless trio of socialism, nihilism and anarchy, so rapidly spreading in our day, and which seeks to wipe out all law relating to marriage, property, etc.

It may be that these are the immediate precursors of anitchrist. At any rate, he is surely coming, and sad indeed is the thought of a godless world, rushing on to such a culmination of evil.

~W. E. B. Blackstone~

(The End)