In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of the manner in which the Gospel is preached and received. He highlights the transformative power of the word of God and how it can lead people to turn away from idols and serve the living God. The preacher also emphasizes the anticipation of the second coming of Jesus and the need to stand firm in faith. He shares personal anecdotes and encourages the congregation to remain faithful and await the return of Jesus.

Well, I think I'm going to talk about Jesus coming back. And I want to do it from the first Thessalonian letter where we were looking together this morning. We weren't on this theme this morning. We were on the theme of entire sanctification. And we were looking at that great verse, the very God of peace, sanctify you wholly. I wasn't looking at it, or none of us were, I trust from a mere doctrinal standpoint. Though the doctrine of entire sanctification is one that every one of us needs to understand. And presently we'll come to that point because entire sanctification is connected with the second coming. And if we don't get the doctrine of entire sanctification right, it's not much use having the doctrine of the second coming right. Not much use. But, hallelujah, we're going to start at the beginning. You will know that it was thought at one period, though if you're well taught in these days, you will know it's not true, which shows you that even Bible colleges and students of scripture can have their minds changed. It was thought at one period that 1 Thessalonians was the first epistle that Paul wrote. But now they've changed their mind and they think it's the Galatians that was the first epistle that Paul wrote. And they're not quite sure, if you go to the real high enough colleges, whether to accept the North Galatian theory or the South Galatian theory. So, you can get well and truly tied up if you keep going along that line. God's always left enough rope for people to hang themselves if they wish to. He even left enough rope for Judas to hang himself. We're going to turn to 1 Thessalonians then and we're going to look on the great theme of the second coming. Of course, it's a marvellous truth really, isn't it? I hope that you know it so tremendously. And he starts in this great epistle and he was saying in verse 5 that our gospel came not unto you in word only. But also in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance as you'll know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. What a glorious thing it is. The manner of man you are, you know, affects the gospel you preach and the way you preach it. Amen. And you know, before the thing can happen that Paul speaks about that the gospel doesn't come in word only unfortunately in many instances it only comes in word. But also in power and in the Holy Ghost and much assurance will depend on what manner of man you are. That's right. If you're just a man of words it'll come in word only. And that's the tragedy with so much that's called preaching. The kind of man you are will always affect your preaching. All of you who want to be preachers or are preachers. Hallelujah. Now, what a tremendous thing. And one of the great effects when the word comes in power is this. Verse 9. Just omitting the first words, not because they're not important but they are a link up with preceding words and he speaks about not only the manner of man you are but the manner of entering in. We had unto you. And how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for His Son from heaven whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus which delivered us from the wrath to come. Amen. Amen. They had such a manner of entering in. Hallelujah. These men who lived in such a manner you see, that the gospel was effective. Got right into the hearts of the people. It couldn't keep them out. The result was that they turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for His Son from heaven. They had this threefold position. They had an absolute conversion. They turned to God and they got on serving God all the time they were waiting for Jesus to come back. That's not all that could be said. I mean, there's a great Bible full of instruction about how men and women responded to or reacted against the Word of God in whichever generation or covenant it was preached. But what a great thing this is, beloved, to have such a conversion to the Lord. You see, not that they got stuck on the modern jargon of saved to serve. Many people have got slung on the ash heaps because of this sort of saved to serve has become a bee in their bonnet and they've never really got through with God before they're out trying to serve Him and finish up disappointed and smashed. I've discovered hundreds and hundreds of these people in my life. And it isn't this that we are concerned about here. But the fact of the matter is if you and I do have a genuine conversion the real thought, seeing that we were talking about Peter this morning, you remember how that those of us that were here, of course, taking him as an illustration, how that he turned to the Lord from fishing in the beginning, and then turned back again. And then the Lord went after him again. And he turned to the Lord and he followed the Lord. And he went on and he followed the Lord and he followed the Lord. Then he got to Caesarea of Philippi and said to the Lord, he said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of God. And Jesus said to him, Blessed art thou, Simon, Barjona, flesh and blood, has not revealed this unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. You see. And so you go through the 16th chapter of Matthew. You remember where that's to be found. But by the time you get to the next chapter, you find that Jesus has called him Satan. Get behind me, Satan. And before very long, though Jesus has just paid his taxes for him, he says to him in company with all the rest of the apostles, except you're converted and become as a little child, you won't get into the kingdom of heaven. So what type of a conversion have you had? That's the thing for you and I to understand. Thorough reading of the Bible without doctrinal spectacles on will enable you to arrive nearer to truth in the heart of God. He said, except you're converted and you've got to have a conversion that brings you down to a little child. Unless you're too big to get into the kingdom of heaven. This is what Jesus said very plainly to them. And these men had just to put that in their pipe and smoke it, if they were smokers. They just had to take it. We are converted then, they said to one another. And they told each other the truth. Oh, what a tremendous thing then. You see, you've got to have such a conversion that your life becomes absolutely God's. That's all in it. That is what God is expecting from each one of us. And such a conversion that your whole life is taken up with Jesus. Everything. And all you're living for is Jesus. And you've heard that Jesus is coming back again. So you're living for the day. That's right. Have you had that kind of conversion? I'm not asking you whether you've accepted the doctrine of the second coming. That's not what I'm asking you about. I'm asking you whether you've had that kind of conversion that makes Jesus everything to you. That for Him you turn from all other things, their only idols, everything, hallelujah, whether men call it good or whether they call it bad. It's such a dynamic experience, this true conversion. It turns you inside out, back to front, right side up, or whatever it is. It turns you completely off everything else onto Jesus. So much so that from that moment He becomes the talk of you. You just talk Jesus and people think you've gone bonkers. And a good psychiatrist would say you've got religious mania. And your people will be very worried about you. Oh, that's right. Your good mum and dad will be very concerned about you. If you talked about all the sort of pop artists, they wouldn't. That's the strange part about it. This is the way our cultures got turned upside down. Talk all about how somebody's pa is at golf, if you're the golfing fraternity. Talk about Wimbledon, talk about the Oval, talk about the modern scene and they're with you. But if you start talking about Jesus, they think you ought to go and see the doctor. Or something like this. You've got to be turned onto Jesus. Now whatever fond parents think or friends or anybody like that, have you ever had this great conversion? Hallelujah. So there's Jesus, Jesus. I'm going to serve Jesus. That's right. Because that's, he's the only one worth living for. He's the only one worth serving and you can see it. Doesn't matter whether anybody else does. You can see it. And, oh, he's coming back. Lord, when you come back, I want you to find me busy. I don't want you to find a lazybones, a layabout, saying, oh, I'm very, very, I love Jesus. I'm waiting for him to come. And you will remember that we saw the other night, on the night when somebody can profess to me that I'd knocked the bottom out of everything, that Jesus said upon every occasion to those churches, I know your works. Now you can't do works without service. That's what you're going to be tested by. You'll be tested on your service. I hope you're taking this in, not whether you've got your doctrines right. Now understand this. You'll be tested on your service, the quality of it, the quantity of it, in relationship to the time you've had. Hmm. You'll be tested on the works. Blessed be the name of the Lord. I'm so glad about this, that our God is very practical. And the chiefest idol to turn from is yourself, so that you're not serving yourself, and you're not taken up with self so much that it holds you back from serving Jesus. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Alright. And you're waiting for Jesus to come back. Waiting. Blessed be the name of the Lord. There's something about the second coming of the Lord that is always thrilling. You'll notice that as soon as we started, Jesus is coming, oh everybody, Jesus is coming, you see. Some things you're seeing sound like a death knell. But if you start singing about Jesus is coming, oh glory, he's coming. Is that right? The true children of God, Amen. If they've responded to the message right, and they've used their life right since, they're looking for Jesus to come. That's a very simple approach to the second coming. But Paul doesn't leave it there. It's quite introductory. It's such an important subject, that he talks about the second coming in every single chapter, in the five chapters of 1 Thessalonians. So we read on, down through the second chapter. And he does love these people. It's so glorious. He says in verse 9, in verse, well, let verse 7 come into our hearts then, shall we? We were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherished her children. He didn't go in among them and say, get up you lazy bones, it's time you did some service. He didn't say that. He went in among them, and he said, we were gentle, as a nurse cherishes her children, so being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because you were dear unto us. Amen. What a way to go amongst people. Idolaters. What a way to get amongst them. With real love in your heart. People become dear to you. Amen. All right. We, brethren, verse 17, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart. Hallelujah. He left his heart behind with them. Praise God. Norman Meaton is flying out to India about now because he said he left half his heart in India. So he's gone back to pick it up, I suppose. We have to be careful. If he leaves all of it there, we'll never get him again. We, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavoured the more abundantly to see your face with great desire. Wherefore, we would have come again unto you, even I, Paul, once and again. But Satan hindered us. For what is our hope or joy or crown of rejoicing are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming. Amen. This is what he said to the Thessalonians. He didn't get off this great note. Oh, he said he's coming. Now when he comes, you in the presence of the Lord, what joy that will be to us. What crown that will be to us. You may start wondering whether you'll ever have a crown when Jesus comes. If this be the basis upon which crowns are distributed. Our crown, he says, is you. You're our crown. The crown of any man's ministry, you that want to be ministers, is people who have been thoroughly converted to Jesus Christ. That's the crown of your ministry. Not whether you have a voice that can prophesy like a golden bell. Better be that than a tinkling cymbal, of course. It's with my beloved. People are going to be there when Jesus comes. Your crown. Hallelujah. Your joy. Your crown. Paul did not just write like this to the Thessalonians. But when the Lord comes, this was his great joy. Going to see these people there. We've been taken away from you. We've all got to go to our homes now. We're all going to part, except you very fortunate people who have the opportunity to stay at Aurora all the time. You see, we are all going to our separate places. Hmm. We're going to part. Are we going to meet when Jesus comes? You in the presence of the Lord. Are we going to meet when Jesus comes? That's the important thing. It's lovely to have what we call fellowship along with. We come and we have a great time together. We sing. We have a good old hug up. We enjoy it ever so much. And it's beautiful. But are you going to be there in the great gathering? Are you? Am I? Think. If we call this fellowship, what is it that Wesley has us singing? And if our fellowship below in Jesus is so sweet. Go on then. You're the singer, brother. Shall we know where on this throne we meet? The communion that we've been talking about. You see, beloved, when the Lord comes and the trumpet blows, will you be there? That's the thing that it's really all about. Have you had a true conversion to Jesus Christ? Is it such a conversion that now the Lord Jesus thoughts of him and everything else just about eats you up? This is what it's got to be. And I can tell you this, you people that have perhaps but lately begun. I tell you, perhaps I ought to warn you, that as you go on, oh, what began. If you're living right, what began in fire gets a bigger fire. Let's all get rid of this idea that you have a marvellous conversion and it's wonderful, and then you go, oh, and the fire burns low. You know, I said the other night, if you don't know Christina Rossetti, you ought to get acquainted to her, with her. And of course, that is, of course, she's not alive now. She wrote these marvellous poems. She wrote the poem. I don't know whether you know this. Love came down at Christmas. Love all lovely. Love divine. Have you ever met that poem? Or do you only know that one? Jesus, Mary's boy child, Jesus Christ. I wonder if you only know that one. I don't know. But there it is. The great difference that I want to bring out tonight is that those say Christina Rossetti smote that marvellous hymn. My hope burns low. My faith burns low. Only my heart's desire cries out in me by the deep thunder of its wanton woe cries out to the Lord I am dead. Lord art life. You see? These are the tremendous things. Well, that's wonderful for the heart where it all has burned low. You see? But there's another hymn writer and he writes poetry that goes like this. Jesus confirm my heart's desire to work and speak and think fully still let me guard the holy fire and still stir up That's right. You see? You know who wrote that. But I won't tell you. The masculinity of it all. Glorious. And we move into these blessed spheres. Oh, beloved, we don't want this swan song sort of stuff. Always moaning about our faith dropping out of our boots. Jesus come and pick me up again. Please. And all this. It's marvelous if you do need picking up. But I want to tell you that Jesus is not only able to pick you up but he's able to keep you up. Hallelujah. And fill you up. And burn you up. And this is the vision that these Thessalonians have. And this is that in which Paul ministered. Oh, he says, we were gentle with you though we came in with power and assurance. Oh, you can learn a lot about being a minister if you'll read this epistle. Came in in power and in assurance, he said. Oh, and we've left our heart with you. We're not with you. But don't be saying, oh, I wish Paul was here. I wish Paul was here. Listen, it's not my presence you want. There's another presence. And it's if you're there in that presence when he comes. The presence of the Lord. I expect that some of us anyway, if we've had the right kind of teaching, somebody came to me this morning and said, would you like an S Bible? I said, no, thank you, brother. I had one a long time ago. I won't tell you what an S Bible is any more than a TC Bible. But, or TCR, whatever you want to say. Or a DA Bible. Do you know that one? You don't? Oh, well, I won't tell you. Well, I tell you that these came from a man named Davix. All right. All right. You know the rest then? You don't? All right. Well, all right. It doesn't matter. You want the Bible. And, and you know, but you will have learned that there are some wonderful words used in the Bible about the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And one of the great words is called parousia. Oh, I say, what a tremendous name. Tremendous word. Don't get worried about it. It's all right. Parousia. And it's really a word which means presence rather than coming. There's other words used for the second coming, but it's the great thought of the presence. Hallelujah. Now, I want to tell you that when Paul uses that word parousia with regard to the second coming of the Lord, he's only really using it in the sense of the presence of the Lord being more manifest than it is now. You are supposed to be in the presence of the Lord now. And you know what a presence is, don't you? You know some people say, oh, she has a presence. You know, a duchess for instance. You can always tell when you see a duchess, can't you? She has a presence. A presence. That when she comes into the room, you can sort of feel it. When he's there, oh, they've got a presence. Hallelujah. Now, you're to live in the sense of the presence of the Lord. That's why the gospel has to come to you in the Holy Ghost because that's where the presence of the Lord is. In the Holy Ghost. And you are to live not in the awareness of an apostolic presence, but in the awareness of the Lord of the apostles. Him. People come and people go, but Jesus remains forever. And he said this, our hope, I've been removed from you. He says in verse 17, in my presence, I'm not with you. My heart's there. I want to see your face with great desire. I'd love to come to Thessalonica and see you all. I understand, old Paul, you know, people, I've met some people here and I have to say they're a little bit sort of wrapped on the knuckles because they say, you know, you haven't been to see us for three years. And I begin to feel a bit guilty. I haven't been for three years. Or I talk to someone, or I say, write to Bernard. See if I can really come to your church. I don't want to go. See their face. I understand, old Paul. I understand he must have wished he was 50 times multiplied in order to go around all the places he'd love to go. But he said, it isn't that I want to see your face on earth so much. Will I see it when Jesus comes? Shall I look round and say, but where's, where's, where's? Yeah. That's right. Will you be there? You, he says, you're our crown. You're our joy. Joy. When the Lord comes. See, and that, that keeps you just about in your right place, all you preachers, including myself. It isn't, you say, oh, Rohrer Conference, or wherever it was, Cliff Conference, or somewhere else you see. 50 people responded, 150 people responded, 25 got baptised. It was marvellous to see them, you see. It's great. But will you be there when he comes? Hallelujah. The perseverance of the saints is the great thing that you and I need to get in our hearts. Have you had something really radical take place in you that will keep you going on? Has it really happened? Has your chicken heart been taken out of you? Has it? Has your self-centredness gone out of you? Has your sin gone out of you? We'll come into that a little later. Has it all gone? Has your living for time gone? Has your living for the world gone? Oh, do you belong to the Lord? Has the Lord already come to you? Is His presence real to you now? There's no guarantee that it will be real to you then if it's not real to you now. I have a friend, one of my many lady friends, I've got a lot of men friends too, and she has a lot to do with people, personal dealing with them. And she said, you know, when people come to talk to me, I've learned to ask them this question. You know, they go through, they've been this, they've done that, they are that and the other. And she said, I always ask them this question. Is the Lord Jesus real to you? And if they say no, she says, you need to be born again. You see? Because as soon as you're born of God, Jesus is real. He comes. His presence is shed like an aura in the blessed Spirit around you, in you. Oh, hallelujah. Is He real there? Is He present? Does His presence keep you? Is it a keeping factor? For you know you wouldn't do any more sin if you know that Jesus was watching you all the time. Would you? You wouldn't waste another minute, would you? You wouldn't fool about on lesser things? Amen. You, in the presence of the Lord, you, when He comes, are going to be there. Oh, hallelujah. Paul says, now that's my joy, and that's my crown. I don't think he went home and said, you know, 5,000 people at Thessalonica, isn't it marvellous? We'd better write round circular letters to them. Better buy a duplicator. He only sent them one letter, it had to do for everybody. Hallelujah. Eh? Yeah, that's right. You do believe this, don't you? Had to do for everybody. Why, this is so tremendous. And he says this, if any man obey not our word by this epistle, this letter, note that man, have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. Oh, that's great, isn't it? Yet, count him not as an enemy, I'm in the second Thessalonians here, admonish him as a brother. And if you look at the end of the first epistle, in chapter 5, he says, verse 26, greet all the brethren with a holy kiss, I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren. One letter for the lot. And when he wrote the second letter, it was for the lot. Amen. That's lovely. He didn't do that. He knew, there was with joy that many people responded to the ministry. The thing that counted was whether they were going to be there. You know, I'm always affected by that great word that the Lord said to Peter on the morning after they'd spent the wasted hours of the night fishing in resurrection. And as they drew near to the shore, John saw, they all saw a figure, and John says, it's the Lord. He was always looking for the, always waiting for the Lord to come. Oh John, where am I going to see the Lord next? On the shore. All right. And you know the whole story, don't you? Have you any meat? No. Oh! Cast your net over the right side of the boat. They did it. They were only a boat width between failure and success. You may be as close to success as that after a night of failure through your own folly. Cast your net over the right side of the ship, he said, and they did it. And they caught 153 great big fishes. Well, you know what happened. Peter didn't wait to drag the net to shore. He dived overboard, swam to shore quickly, left the other poor chap struggling with the net to show his eagerness to get to Jesus. And when they got there, Jesus hid there. They saw a fire of coals and bread and fish thereon. And Jesus said, Now bring up the fish that you've caught. So Peter, he dashed into the sea, pulled all these 153 monstrous fishes to land. Whatever they did with them, I don't know. They weren't allowed to eat them, you see. They belonged to Jesus. He provided them with what they were to have. They belonged to Jesus. So if Peter, if Paul went to Thessalonica and 153 big fish were caught, he didn't say, Oh, 153, put it down. Include it in my biography. Long as they were there. Listen. All the great ministries that God has given, all the great results should be recorded in Jesus' biography, not yours. Amen. His biography. What he has done, there is. And if there is, they'll be there when he comes. Do you believe that? They'll be there when he comes. Right. And listen. Everyone that will be there, I rather think they'll be somebody's crown. And we'll just about decide the size of crown you'll wear. Fancy. The millions that will be there for a crown for Paul. Oh, hallelujah. Amen. And when you think, we'll all be the crown of Jesus. My, what a head we have on this body. And this is the whole secret. There, beloved, to be someone's crown. And in turn, there for someone to be your crown. What a marvelous thing it is to say, My brother, it's my crowning joy to see you here. Sister, you're my crowning joy. My, what a marvelous thing. Praise the Lord. Somebody else's salvation. Somebody else's blessing. Somebody else's joy. Somebody else's glory. Somebody else's presence there. Somebody else into the bliss of Jesus. That should be your joy and your glory. What a marvelous thing it is. Are you going to be there? You turn to God from idols to serve the living God and to wait. We'll wait and see who's going to be there. We're waiting for you, Jesus. But I'm also waiting to see who's going to be there with you, Lord. If I said, stand up every one of you that's going to be there, could you do it? No coronation for the devil, beloved. He won't hold court in hell. He's going there to be punished, not to reign as king. What a tremendous thing it is to belong to Jesus. Chapter 3. Blissful Paul. I love him. He said, now I left my heart with you. I'm not with you. Oh, he said, so when we couldn't forbear any longer, I sent Timothy to find out how you are. Amen. Praise the Lord. I like these fellows, don't you? You meet these fellows today and you're supposed to believe that everything they do is by direction from heaven. They have words speaking unto them. Great prophetic... Oh, Paul didn't. He just said, well, when I couldn't stand it any longer, I sent him. God make us apostles. Not these phony things. Amen. Amen. Couldn't do anything except by word. That's how the devil gets in. People insist, insist. I knew a lady. She wouldn't come out of her room any morning until she got a word from God. Everybody thought she was a marvelous lady. When I talked to her, I knew she was living in fantasy land and deceived. I'm not saying you shouldn't have a time with Jesus. Now, please don't misunderstand, but you see, she had to get the word for the day. You see? There are times when you should be just human, sanctified human, of course. We'll come to that a little later. There are times. Not sinfully human. Not selfishly human. But human. Well, I couldn't stick it any longer. Timothy, go and find out how they are in Thessalonians. Glory be to God. Of course, you don't need Timothy's now. You pick up a telephone. It's better to have a telephone than a television. But telephones can be nuisance. And televisions are bigger ones. The great trouble, the great trouble, beloved, is that we don't see into the truth. Anyway, going down through that third chapter, you find that, look at this, verse 7, I'd like to read all of it, but look at this one. Brethren, we were comforted over you in all our affliction and distress by your faith. Now we live. If you stand fast in the Lord, keep standing now, you'll think you've got wings when he comes, you'll go right up to the roof. But stand now. Come out of these flights of fences. It was in this room that I heard a man once, I don't know whether, I'm sure some of you are here, all the sort of raw aliens, if that's the word to speak, were here anyway, or most of them were the same staff. But I remember him coming to the front. He was sitting somewhere back there. You know, when we were in our orderly rows, we got mixed up a bit tonight with the baptism. And he walked, he said, can I have a word, brother? So I said, yes, and he came to the front, and he stood here, and to my surprise, I nearly fell off the chair for a second, and he said, I'm ever, I want to praise the Lord that he's delivered me from charismania. I went, oh. Does anybody else remember that? You'd be surprised the things I remember. Yeah, that's what he said. First time I heard it, I must confess I thought it was rather good. But you know what I mean. Yeah. Hallelujah. To be down here, beloved, in the true charismata of God. For you know that charisma and charis, it's a word connected with grace. These are the gifts of God's grace, in other words. Marvelous thing. And, oh, if we stand fast in the Lord, and then he goes on to say, what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy, for your sakes before our God, night and day, praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith. Now, God himself, and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you, and the Lord make you to increase and abound in love, one toward another and toward all men, even as we toward you. To the end, he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, with all his saints. Amen. Let's read it, shall we? You need your faith perfecting. Oh, but they turned to God from idols, and they were serving the living God, and waiting for his Son. But you need your faith perfecting. Oh, oh. He knew, you know. A man of God knew. And then he goes on. And the whole thing is this. And you've got to have your faith increase. That which is lacking in your faith has got to be put in. What's missing from your faith while you're waiting for Jesus? Say, I believe he's coming back. But did you know the devil does? Did you know the devil believes that Jesus is coming back? He can't help but believe it. And they turned to God from idols, and they were serving the Lord. Surely, look at that. Great people of faith, man. What are you talking about, Paul? They're serving the Lord. What's lacking in your faith? I wonder if this is lacking in your faith, that you should increase and abound in love. I wonder if you could really believe that, that you could increase and abound in love. Do you believe that? And do you know what the end of that is? That's not the end. This is marvellous. Faith increased. Love abounding. Hallelujah, Lord. Come quickly. We're waiting for you. No, wait a minute. Listen. To the end, that he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness. I want to tell you, you cannot be established unblameable in holiness without faith being whole in you and your heart abounding in love. No partial faith, even if it's only 95%. The thing that's lacking in your faith. Amen. Lord, when you come back, I want to be found a man who has 100% faith. Amen. Nothing missing. It doesn't say, you believe this, you believe that. Ah, but you didn't believe me for that, did you? You didn't believe that, did you? But Lord, I believe you died on the cross. Yes, well done. Lord, I believe that I should be totally converted to you. Yes, well done. Lord, I believe that I should serve you. I've been out in full time service. Yes, well done. Praise God. But, I had a person say to me once, I can't understand myself, she said. If we get praying and praying for other people, praying for the sick, I can't believe for them, I can't believe for myself, she said. I think that's rather more common than we may believe. You know, we sort of sweep into a meeting where faith is up, and people are falling down under the power of something, and we can believe and believe and believe, until it comes down to ourselves. And then, now, that which is lacking in your faith, so that you may abound in love, as we do. That's marvelous, isn't it? To the end, he may establish your hearts, unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, with all his saints. When he comes, beloved, all his saints. We won't bother about doctrinal niceties now. About whether you believe he's coming for, and then, where he's coming with. Whether you're amillennial, postmillennial, premillennial, or what you are, that's not what we're bothering about. The Bible says he's coming with all his saints. And this means to say that you've got to stand up amongst men like Paul the Apostle, Madame Guillaume, Saint-Laurent, Wesley, Fletcher, the Booths, Oswald Chambers, A. W. Tozer, Watchman Neame. White Queen of Ocoyong, Mary Slessor. You've got to stand up with all these. George Muller. I'm naming all your favourites, aren't I? Hudson Taylor. But listen. You've got to stand up and be compared with them. You've got to stand amongst that lot. You've got to be established, unblameable in holiness, amongst this lot. See, if you get down and you say, Oh, I'm better than he is. I'm better than she is. I mean, I wear certain kind of clothes and I don't go to certain places and I do this and I do that. I'm better than they are. And you might look wonderful down here, but are you going to look wonderful up there? That's the company I've got to live with, beloved. All the saints. All of them. They're all coming. They're all coming, beloved. Little old Dorcas that we were talking about the other night. She's going to be there. She was so important that God raised her from the dead when he didn't raise apostles. There she was. Oh, she never preached the gospel once. You know she did. She preached it with the little garments she made. She had a way of getting into hearts. Holy. Blessed be the name of the Lord. She was full of good works. Amen. If you're full of good works, you'll tick over all right. And God wants you to see the wonder of this, beloved. He's coming. They're all going to be there. And I don't know who you like to hobnob with down here. This chappie or that chappie. Somebody else and somebody else. Up there. You've got to mingle with people like Paul the Apostle. And the beloved John. You've got to meet with Mary and Martha. You've got to hear somebody say, Do you know, Jesus cast seven devils out of me. Everybody be talking about Jesus and what he did. We'll be talking about who won the 230. Or who won the ashes. You see. Or Exeter City Football Club or something. They won't be talking about things like that. They won't be talking about that. They're talking about, You've got to stand along with Stephen. He'll tell you what it felt like. When the stones came crashing into him. And he stood there and he said, You know, it was at that precise moment that heavens opened. I saw Jesus. You say, I never saw Jesus. And the stories we tell won't stand so grand up there perhaps. The things we make mountainous will only seem like mowed hills there. You and I have got to stand with the saints of God in the presence of the Lord. I know it's wonderful and thrilling to think of all the saints that are going to be there. It's going to be marvelous. But listen. You've got to be established blameless in holiness when you're there. That's what the apostle says. I believe it. Pray God I may be allowed to stand with little Dorcas or Mary Magdalene. Or someone like that. I suppose you know, don't you? That great man Whitfield and that great man Wesley lived in the same generation. They could not seem to sort of agree in doctrine. But they used to write the most loving letters to one another. I hope you know that, you see. That you know that one was a Calvinist and the other one was an Arminian and never a twain shall meet. Apparently. But one day, one of Wesley's men was speaking about Whitfield and said to John, he said, Where do you think, do you think the Lord Jesus will, you know, when he comes before you, preaching this about this sort of Calvinistic doctrine, you see, and all this business, and where do you think he'll stand? So John Wesley said, I think that Mr. Whitfield will stand right in the front. Yeah. Yeah, a man can write about love when he really thinks that. You be careful what you write, my friend. You be careful. The whole glorious truth is that we've got to be established there amongst that great company. Fourth chapter. Of course, this is the great famous one that everybody reads. Verse 12. Verse 13, sorry. I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not even as others which have 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. 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 that are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with 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. Well, when the Lord comes, it's going to be a dark and cloudy day, apparently. Yeah. Have you ever thought about that? On the bright and glorious morning, when the dead in Christ rise, there's going to be clouds. So that hymn's wrong. You see, we don't read the Bible properly. That's the trouble. That's right. It's going to be cloudy. It's going to be a dark day. He's going to come when it's dark on the earth. The Bible says, when men's hearts are failing them for fear and looking after those things that are happening on the earth, this is Jesus' own word. We all ought to have taken that as a hint. It's going to be pretty dark when Jesus comes for the world. Men are looking everywhere. What's happening? What's happening? That's when the trumpet sound is going to split the clouds. Hallelujah. That's when Jesus is coming. Bless the name of the Lord. And it's a very simple thing that Paul tells us here. When this happens, we can read it again word by word so that we don't put any ideas of our own in. It says that when the Lord comes, He's going to descend from heaven with a shout, verse 16, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ are going to rise first. Amen. So when I think about these words, I always think to myself, why should I want to be alive when Jesus comes? If I die first, I'll see Him quicker. All this nonsense about, I don't understand people's thinking on this. You know, oh, Jesus is coming. We're not going to die. Well, what's wrong with death then? You'll see Him quicker. No, we don't want to suffer. I don't want anything like that. I'm as big a coward as you. I don't like pain. No, nobody wants pain. Well, what's wrong with death? You know, it wasn't so long ago when my wife and I caught a plane at Exeter Airport, and we flew out to Ireland. Oh, but you know, just before we were going, we had somebody come up to us and said, Hoo, you're not going to Ireland? You're not going to take your wife? Hoo, you know, and they were blowing up places right, left and centre. In fact, I've never been so searched in all my life as when I went to Ireland. Three times like they searched us. You put your bag down, and they looked at you most suspiciously, and one thing and another. I won't tell you all the funny little details about it, but they're dead scared of what you're going to do in Ireland, you know. And somebody said, but she might get blown up. I said, well, it's the best way to go, isn't it? You're quite unaware of it. You're sitting on your seat. It goes bang. I wouldn't want to land up with a leg blown off or anything like that. I wouldn't want that. But you see, the dead rise first. They're going to see Him first. That's what it says. Oh, glory. The dead in Christ are going to rise first. Amen. They're going to be the early risers. All those. Praise the Lord. Glory. Well, it's in keeping with the resurrection, you remember. They went down when the Lord was in the tomb. And they said, look at Jesus. He's not here. They were too late. Jesus was an early riser. He got up. He says He's not here. You can see where He lay. That's His bed. But He's gone. You see. Praise God. And then those that are alive are going to be caught up. Amen. Now, they won't see the Lord a lot before us, if He closed the trumpet tonight and we don't die. But I'll see Him first. You see, this is the great thing. This was the note of all that came into the hearts of the Thessalonians. Turn to Jesus. Proper conversion. Serve Him. Keep busy. Wait for Him. He's coming. That was the thing, you see. It was all embraced within this. Looking for Him. Waiting for Him. Amen. Go to see Him first. They loved Him, you know. These people loved Him. Do you love Him like that? Do you love Him like that? Oh, glory. That's the way you've got to love Him. And, of course, you see what it is that He said in verse 13, that these people are only to be counted by us as though they're asleep. Now, that's the way you are to look at death. Any of you that may be facing a death of a loved one, you're not to look at it as death anymore. It's asleep. They go to sleep. You don't, you know, don't you? And this is the thing for us to understand. That Jesus renamed death. He called it sleep. All right? And they're only waiting for the alarm to go off. That's the trumpet. The alarm will blow. That's right. And then somebody will say, Wake up! Oh, you know, something like that. Or, come forth! I don't quite know how it will come. But it will be Jesus. Archangel blowing the trumpet. Jesus speaking. Hallelujah. And we'll just wake up. Well, I think that's tremendous, don't you? And so, God moves us on into this great area. Just sleeping. That's why, you see, you're not to sorrow in the way that the world sorrows. They have no hope. None at all. So, you only sorrow. Well, there is a sorrow. But you're not to get to this place. Oh, I've lost him. I've lost her. Gone. Now, I can assure you that if I went up to bed tonight and went to sleep, you see, very rarely I do this. I go up before my wife, and she mostly goes up before I do. But I go up, and she doesn't think, Oh, I've lost him. When she comes up, because I'm asleep. He's gone. Because she really believes I'm only asleep. Do you believe that? Only asleep. Now, I know there is the sorrow at parting, and we also have been through it, some of us. We know it. You know, I should never forget the day when dear old Bob Love died. Some of you were at his funeral. Oh, what a gorgeous funeral. Did you know, no, I don't suppose you did, that the people outside that were going down the road, they said, Who's being married? That's right. I'm telling you the truth. Mighty day it was. Who's being married? Why, even his wife wore a white hat. How about that? What did you do, sir? Tears in her eyes. She wore a white hat. And I said to the Lord, I said to the Lord that morning, Lord, what am I going to speak of? Lord, what am I going to say? The place was filled. He was much loved. They came from all over the country. Packed the place up. Love should be loved. And they were filling, filled the place. They were standing around, saints from here, brothers so and so, people you hardly expected to see. They were in. And I looked out over these saints. Lord, give me a word. Listen. He gave me this word from John chapter 11. Thy brother shall rise again. Hallelujah. Thy brother shall rise again. Of course, you always do rise if you only go to sleep, don't you? Yeah. I shall never forget it. Oh, God moved my heart. And I pointed to dear Nora. And I said, thy husband shall rise again. I pointed to dear Sue. And I said, thy father shall rise again. I pointed to the relative. Thy brother shall rise again. Glory be to God. Oh, amen. Oh, it was wonderful. Rising again. Listen. Power is going to come. Strength is going to come. To rise again. Hallelujah. Yes. Sown in weakness. Raised in power. Sown in corruption. Raised in glory. Amen. This is the way that the Lord's talking. He wants us to see this, beloved. Oh, He's coming back. We just go to sleep. This is the way to keep the dreadful sorrow ringing your heart. Smashing you like the people of the world. Amen. And so you kiss them and say, good night. See you in the morning. Blessed, isn't it? Do you know why? Because Jesus is coming again. Yes. Hallelujah. That's it. Amen. I've heard these gurus' teachings. I've heard about this transcendental meditation. I've heard about these philosophers. None of them have got this in it. None of them have got any hope anywhere in them. None of them. They haven't got a Buddha coming back again. They haven't got some guru coming back again. They haven't got that. Hallelujah. He's coming back. Praise God. And He shall reap the harvest here soon. That's the marvellous thing about it. Wouldn't that be wonderful? And I tell you what, all those things, those ones you feel you've lost, they might think they've lost you. Where is he? Where is she? They'll be raised first and they'll be looking round for you. Is she coming? Is he coming? They might think they've lost you. And you'll be saying, oh, I've lost him. I've lost her. And they might say, oh Lord, have I lost them? Where is she? Where is she? My wife, my husband, my daughter, my son, my brother, my sister. Where are they? They love the wages of unrighteousness, Lord. They love the flesh pots. They love the swine traps. They love the world. They love sin. Then they're its slaves. Farewell. Farewell. Goodbye. We only say to them, goodnight. See you in the morning. They say, goodbye. Think of it. Say, but I saw them roar, oh Lord. Yeah. Don't tell me. And they only hope. Not now. Didn't seem to see the light when it shone. Didn't seem to feel the love when it was there. Didn't seem to hear the word. Didn't seem to want it. Death. Listen. That's the death I've been telling you all along. It's they that are dead. You've never been dead. You only went to sleep. Come up higher. Higher. Lord, I'm coming. I'm coming to meet you. I'm coming to meet you, Lord. I've been waiting for the moment. Yeah. It's all going to happen when the trumpet blows. What a tremendous thing. Listen. We're going to meet the Lord in the air. And we're going to be forever with the Lord. Amen. I hope I've comforted you with these words. I hope so. Chapter 5. Now, there are going to be a lot of times and seasons, brethren. And he said, I'm not going to write to you about the times and seasons. Amen. We'll leave Brother John to write that to you. Read his revelation. And we're going to read down this great chapter a little bit. And we're told in verse 16, We are to rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. Praise the name of the Lord. In everything give thanks. So these are to be the three constant things. Always rejoicing. Always praying. Always giving thanks. Blessed be the name of the Lord. What a people. This is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the spirit. Despise not prophesying. That would have told us if we'd had any sense, some of us, when in the days we didn't believe it, because we were taught that that which is perfect had come, because the Bible had come, and therefore the gifts had been taken away. When the Bible tells you that these are going to be there all the time. We're not to quench the spirit. We're not to despise the prophesying. The gifts are going to be operative. Right till the coming of the Lord. I wish somebody had preached like this to me when I was as young as some of you. I spent years believing lies. They weren't told me deliberately as lies, but there it is. It wasn't true. It says you're to prove everything, hold fast that which is good, abstain from all appearance of evil, and the very God of peace sanctify you wholly. And I pray God your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. Brethren, pray for us as well, will you? That's right. Pray for us as well. Amen. If you want to know what to pray for people, pray this. Lord, that their whole spirit, soul, and body should be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord. Sometimes we pray, Oh God, those people in Russia, China, somewhere else. Lord, they're undergoing great temptations. Lord, stop them having such desperately hard times. For said, no, no, you pray that through it all they'll be preserved blameless. Hallelujah. Don't pray, Lord, take the hardships away, take the temptations away. Say, Lord, preserve them in it and through it. Amen. Glory be to the name of the Lord. I don't know, I know you don't want to suffer, I know nobody wants to, we don't want to think of anybody suffering, but that's the way of the church. That's the way it comes. I pointed out the other night, that you don't have to have gloom in sufferings, just rejoice evermore. When you can rejoice in sufferings, Hallelujah. That's the great thing. When you can give thanks in your trials, Oh, pray without ceasing. Amen. What a tremendous thing it is, bloody, when we're here. Lord, preserve us, spirit, soul and body. Hallelujah. Lord, let me be a real man when you come. Let me be an integrated person when you come. Let me be living one whole person for thee. When you come. That's how it wants to be, isn't it? Do you think that? That's how God wants it to be. When he comes. If he comes tonight, tomorrow, in the days that lie ahead very shortly, and there are those who would have us believe that this is so. Are you going to be living like that when he comes? God looks at you and he says, Now that's a whole person. That's how I want it. God doesn't want to have to preserve a little bit of you. He says, Oh, when I've got that little bit of them, I'll preserve that bit. He wants to preserve us whole. Hallelujah. We may have some more holes knocked in us, of course. We might have suffered a lot, but then, we're still whole. The man that went back to the glory could say in resurrection, Look, the hole. The holes. Put your hand into my side. Plenty of holes in him. But he was a whole man. A holy man. Glory be to God. Hallelujah. And this I'll promise you. In the train of the Lord Jesus, because he was like that, one whole person. One who was not split, demented, torn asunder by the sufferings, though he had to take the sin of the whole world and suffer the death that all sinners deserved. He didn't unhinge his mind. He didn't say, My punishment is greater than I can bear. That's Cain, the chicken. That's Cain. Jesus was one whole glorious person. Amen. Amen. And he went back to heaven. And because one whole person entirely sanctified unto God went to heaven. Other whole persons started to emerge. Paul, Stephen. So it goes on. And if you'll live one whole life utterly integrated for Jesus, there'll be a chance for someone else. A chance for someone else. If you'll, even if it be a cross, or even if it be stones, if you'll live wholly for Jesus, someone else will see what it's all about. Someone else will get a desire. Someone else will say, I see. That's what it is. And want what you've got. Right unto the coming of the Lord. I'd like you to see that that word unto there, it's unto and not until. It's unto. The whole purpose of you being kept complete is unto Him. It's all unto Him. See. Not unto this one. Not unto that. Not unto something else. Everything is unto Jesus. Amen. My wholeness is unto Jesus. Everything is for Him. So you see, you're not particularly looking for someone to say, they think you're very nice, or I approve of you very much. And you don't care whether someone says, no, no, no. Because it's all unto Jesus. Everything is unto Him. Hallelujah. That's the way to live. And that's the person and life that God wants to preserve. And He will preserve it. Hallelujah. He'll preserve it in this world. He can preserve you from sin. He can preserve you from going down under temptation. He can preserve you from the devil. He can preserve you from demons. I really do get inside where people say they've been baptized in the Holy Ghost and they've come to this. They've got demon trouble. I think, what in the world is this baptism all about? Hey, preserve you. Preserve you. What does it mean, preserve you? Keep you from it. Keep you in your pristine state. Keep you. You see, some people get baptized and really they seem to get exposed all of a sudden. Exposed? Preserved? If I understand preservation, our whole idea in preservation is to keep you from being exposed, isn't it? They put you in a jar and boil you if you're a plum. They pickle you if you're an onion, that's right. And they preserve you. Have you ever been pickled in Jesus? Excuse it. Have you ever been really preserved in Jesus? Of course, you see, when you're pickled that means the whatever it is goes right through you. Right through you, that's right. And you become saturated, filled with, boiled with, what do you want? That's preservation. Has something happened to you that will preserve you? Has it gotten into your spirit? Into your soul? Into your body? Has it gotten right deep down into you? Through you? Saturate with it? That's it. Preserved. Blameless. Unto the coming of the Lord. Unto the coming of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord. That's entire sanctification. He's coming. And when He comes, He wants to find us spotless. When He comes, He doesn't want to find our hands dirty. He doesn't want to find our clothes spotted. When He comes, He doesn't want to have to draw us through thickest films of vice. When He comes, He wants to find us as He originally brought us forth from His own womb in that marvelous birth. That's how He wants us to find us. To have it and keep it and grow on through the years. Unblameable in holiness. Eh? Eh? Unreprovable in your service. That's how He wants to find you there. When He comes, Lord, number me amongst these. Hallelujah. You've got to be more than there. Some of you will know the story about my own dear mother's passing I won't tell you all the details. But I remember the time when the specialists drew me aside and they said she can't live. She was 83. And I was her baby. I was a big baby then. What I mean was I wasn't this size baby. I was still about the same size baby that I am now. And I went up and sat on her bed and she said to me What did they say, son? I said, uh I can remember wanting to sit on her lap when I was 12 years old. People used to laugh at me. But I always wanted love. Somebody used to call me a big baby. Well, alright. I don't care. And I I went up and sat on the foot of her bed and she said What did they say, son? And I said, um Mom, they say you can't stay with us much longer. So she said, uh Oh We sat in silence. She propped up in bed, I sitting at the foot. After a while I turned up my eyes and I looked at her way to the bed. I said, are you afraid? Are you afraid? I want you young people to listen to this. Those that have trodden these paths know Are you afraid? No? No. We looked at one another. And I said, Mom You go. You go, Mom. I'll follow. I'll follow. Don't want you to stop here and be half a month. You go. I'll follow. See? I'll follow. Glory be to God. How about there? Are you going to? You going to be there when that trumpet blows? Would you be following anyone? Your mom? Your dad? Your brother? Your sister? There are some of us who've got the joy of knowing we're following our parents. We're God's. Everybody cannot say they wish to follow their parents. What a tragedy for parents. What a tragedy for sons and daughters. Amen. I'll follow. Glory. Living under Jesus. The trumpet is going to blow, beloved. It'll be all over. It'll be all over. And then what? You're in the presence of the Lord. It is coming. Is that right? You established in holiness in the presence of the Lord. It is coming. You preserved spirit, soul and body through the years. Is that right? Glory be to the name of the Lord. You, whether awakened from sleep or whether going with your eyes wide open, just transfixed with the glory of the Lord. Amen. And if you have a chance, look round for me. For I'm going to be there. Amen. Amen. I'm going to be there. When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, the time shall be no more. I'm going to be there. Are you? Now that's the thing you each one have to decide. The Lord is speaking to you. The sin of the world is strong. The allurements of the flesh seem so wonderful. They are deceivers. Jesus calls you to turn to God. Wait for His Son. Look for Him to come. Live under His coming. Let your faith be increased. Abound in love. Oh, glory. Here's the last word. Faithful is he that's called you, who also will do it. Lord, will you do it for me? I'll do it. Lord, when will you do it? When will you? I'll do it now. Move to make your whole. I'll do it now. Lord, make me whole. Make me a whole person for Yourself. That's what I want, Lord. Ready, waiting for Your coming. Amen. Let's pray.