November 23, 2008
Scripture:
Matthew 27:33
Psalm 100 “Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” I was thinking about where it said, “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise.” What did they sing? Before we consider that, though, let me say that it was our privilege to worship this morning, not as Israelites and come only to the gate; but we were able to come into the Holiest, through the work of Christ. But what did they sing? I believe it was something like Psalm 103. Ps. 103:1. They didn’t know the name of Jesus, but they had a holy name for God, Jehovah, and they entered into it as much as they could. In contrast, how near we have been brought: within the veil! We have been brought to know that wonderful name of Jesus, forgiveness, and purged consciences. We’ve been brought in as a result of His work of death and resurrection. We’ve been brought into His presence. Oh, ‘bless the Lord, O my soul’.
Hymn 200 – ‘Tis the hope of His coming
Prayer
I’d like to continue talking about the Lord’s plan for the future. We have talked about the rapture and the tribulation; after these times, there will be the appearing. Let’s look at some verses about the appearing and see how it differs from the rapture.
Read Matthew 24: 29 – 31. Here we learn that at the end of the tribulation, the Lord will come back to earth; the first time he came, it was as a baby. This time, He will come in radiance and glory, and all the world will see Him.
Now turn to I Timothy 6:11 – 14. It is important to keep the Lord’s commandments until he appears. Read II Timothy 4:8; those who are looking forward to the Lord’s appearing will receive a crown of righteousness. We sometimes say that we can’t wait for the Lord to come so we can go to heaven and have no more trials; really, that is a selfish motive. Why should we look for the appearing? It is because when the Lord comes, He will come in all the glory and splendor of His Father; He will have His rightful place.
Titus 2:13 — This verse tells us that the Lord’s glorious appearing should be our great hope. Now read I Peter 1: 7. Why would the trial of our faith show up at the appearing? Do you remember the Judgement Seat of Christ that we talked about? After that there will be the Marriage of the Lamb, then there will be the appearing; we will appear with the Lord at this time, with the rewards which we received at the Judgement Seat.
Read Colossians 3:4; we saw that we will appear with the Lord; when we do, we will have our glorified bodies. I John 2: 28 tells us that we should not be ashamed. Why would we be ashamed? If we do not live for the Lord very well during our lives here, we might feel ashamed. We should do our best to live for the Lord.
Now read I John 4:2; we will be like the Lord; we will appear in the same glory He will. This is different from the rapture, in that we will meet the Lord in the air and return to Heaven with Him.
Finally read Revelation 1:7; Everyone on earth will see the Lord when He comes. We read here that many will wail when they see Him; how do you think the Jews will feel when they realize that the very one they killed and rejected was their Messiah?
I hope this has been helpful; it’s important to see the differences between the rapture and the appearing.
This chapter begins with a time signal: the seventh month. At this time, they celebrate the feast of trumpets. This remnant, though small and weak, has an understanding of the law; we read about that a few times in this chapter. This brings out the fact that they wanted to do God’s will, and they wanted to do it in God’s way. The feast of trumpets was the fourth of the seven feasts of Jehovah. (Note: to get a good understanding of God’s plan for the world, study the feasts of Jehovah, the parables of the kingdom, and the letters to the churches; there are seven of each). The feast of trumpets is typical of the Jews returning to Jerusalem during the Millennium; how appropriate that they should celebrate this at this time. Yet, they waited until the seventh month to do this, as was prescribed in the law.
We find that when this remnant celebrated a feast, they were all as one man, in Jerusalem. This reminds us of the early church in Acts: they were of one accord, and all in one place. They were able to keep the unity of the body; but we have never been commanded to keep the unity of the body. It is the who Spirit will draw us together. However, we are told to keep the unity of the spirit; it behooves us to be of one accord as were the apostles.
Hymn 105 – Nothing but the name of Jesus
Prayer