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- The Lord's Prayer Part 2
The Lord's Prayer - Part 2
David Adams
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Sermon Summary
In this sermon, the speaker reflects on his experience of speaking multiple times in one day and jokes about the audience having to sit and look at him. He then proceeds to read from John chapter 17 in the Bible, focusing on the concept of eternal life. The speaker discusses the importance of believing in Jesus for eternal life and references John 3:16 and 3:36. He also mentions that Christians will be judged for their actions, both good and bad, and explains why believers should anticipate the Judgment Seat of Christ.
Sermon Transcription
Good evening, folks. I was trying to get this clear in my mind, what Brother Gilbert said about the ladies and the Sunday night attention. Then he said, one more time, we'll be home. That sounds a little lethal to me. And then on top of that, we've got frogs and chicken feet. By the way, if you don't know, there's just a lot of good glycerin in chicken feet. We used to eat them down in Cuba many a time. All you've got to do is just call them good peel of skin off, and it's right to hand. I'm not sure we should send Brother Woodhouse to the mission field again or not. You know, when I was thinking of sitting here looking at these azalea plants, I was asked to go spend a week with the folks out at Mount Hermon, California, in that conference they have out there. They so arranged the platform that I was sharing it with another brother from Emmaus. They arranged the platform for me, so I had to speak three times the first day, and then twice every day after that. My wife said to me, I send them my sincere sympathy because not only do they have to sit and listen to you, they've got to sit and look at you for three times in one day. So I was thinking, this is a lovely distraction. If you are beginning to feel the way my wife felt the audience would feel out there, just turn your eye on this scene of beauty here. They're really lovely at this time of the year, aren't they? Well, let's continue this evening with John chapter 17, please. I have a feeling I should read the whole chapter with you, but I know what's going to happen if I do. I'm going to get caught somewhere down partway through it, and then never get back to the first of it. So perhaps we will just read a few verses at the beginning. Chapter 17, The Gospel by Job These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come. Glorify thy son, that thy son also may glorify thee, as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. Now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. What we have read here, particularly in verse 1, dovetails very nicely into part of our consideration this morning when we were looking at the Adamic stewardship, and the consequences of Adam's failure in that stewardship. Last evening, I believe, we closed with this expression when the Lord said to his father, As thou hast given him authority over all flesh. There are only three men, as far as I know, of whom it could be said that they had authority over all flesh. The first one, as we were looking at this morning, was Adam. If you recall, those of you who were here, it was said of him and Eve together that they were to have dominion over all the earth. That was repeated a little farther down. It is also repeated in the Eighth Psalm, What is man of art mindful of him, and the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou hast made him for a little while lower than the angels. Thou hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou hast set him over the works of thine hands. Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. That's a very inclusive statement. Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. That is quoted again, if you remember, in Hebrews chapter 2. So, to Adam was given universal authority. He, with his wife, were to have dominion, said God, over all the earth. That was universal authority. Adam was unquestionably made king of the earth, and everything as so described in the Eighth Psalm and Hebrews 2 was placed under his feet. Now, he is the only one in the Old Testament Scriptures of whom that could be said. And, as we noticed this morning, that was part of his stewardship in which he sadly failed. And, if you recall, we read as well this morning in Luke's Gospel, chapter 4, and this is the second one of three of whom it could be said that he had universal authority. When our Lord was in the wilderness, the time of the temptation, when he was with the wild beasts, I judge that to be both literal, or animal, as well as demonic, and he was tempted of the devil, and he was there for forty days and forty nights. And, at the close of that period, then the devil came to him with what we call the three cardinal temptations. And, one of the temptations to which he was submitted was that the devil took him up to a high mountain, we read, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. Now, if we pause to remember the time in which that happened, when that was said, and when the adversary showed our Lord all the kingdoms of the world, many of these kingdoms had already come and gone, and there was only a residue of the left. For, at this time, the Grecian kingdom was gone, the Persian kingdom was gone, the Babylonian kingdom was gone, and Rome was in sway. And, Rome is reputed to have ruled the world. So, if you take these and bunch them all together, along with other kingdoms that were prior to these, just mentioned, the Lord stood on the mountain with the adversary, and the adversary said, Now, look, all this, all these kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, are mine. Then he added a very significant word, They have been delivered unto me. I think it was expressed to me after our first study regarding the Luciferic stewardship, that his place was in the heavens where he was created, his office was heavenly, he was given the highest place of honor of any of the created beings, and such was his influence that later on, as you know, in Revelation chapter 12, we are told that even in a coming day, when he is going to be cast down from the heavens to exclusively move on earth, you see, what is going to happen is that there are others who are going to displace this heavenly king and all his hosts, there are others who are going to take that position in the days that are yet coming. And this is what God has determined for you and for me. You recall that it is said in Hebrews chapter 2 that our Lord, when he came to earth, he didn't take on of angels, either their cause or their substance. He didn't take on the cause of angels, either the fallen angels or the others possibly who might be in danger of falling. He didn't take on of the nature or the being of angels. But, what did he do? He took on of the seed of Abraham. He took on the cause specifically of the Jews, of the seed of Abraham, the chosen nation. And then we find later on that he embraced as well, in that great work which he came to do and did effectuate, he embraced the Gentiles too. I'm sure that you must realize and recognize when you partake of the Lord's Supper that when we take the cup into our hands, we are displaying something by partaking of it that I think oftentimes we forget. We give thanks for the cup and I have interestingly noted how brethren express themselves when they give thanks for the cup. And generally it is stated that this is a symbol of the precious blood of Christ that was shed to put our sins away, as Matthew also says in his account of the Lord's Supper. But there's one thing I notice that hardly ever is mentioned when we're giving thanks for the cup, and yet it is the predominant feature of the cup of the Lord's Supper. Very rarely do you ever hear it mentioned. But this detail which I mentioned to you tonight concerning the Lord's Supper, the cup in the Lord's Supper, is that which is spoken of in all four, all three Gospels and 1 Corinthians chapter 11. Now, you cannot say that about the other details. Matthew says something that Mark does not say. Mark and Luke both say something that Matthew does not say. If you compare the details of the institution of the Lord's Supper in those three Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and then compare it with the account that Paul gives to us in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, you will notice some very striking differences. These are not repetitions, so that what one Gospeller says, another doesn't say. And yet somehow or another we have concluded that they all said the same thing, which they did not do. But there is one thing that is said in all the three synoptic Gospel accounts of the institution of the Lord's Supper which is also stated in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, and that concerns the cup. And the reason why I've introduced this here is because we just mentioned the fact that in Hebrews chapter 2 what we have there is that the Lord took on of the seat of Abraham. And it is this. Every time that the four accounts that are given to us of the institution of the Supper, in relation to the cup, there is one detail that is never missed. There are other details that are missed. That is, missed, I say, they're not mentioned by one Gospeller or by another. But there is one detail which is always mentioned, and because it is always mentioned in the four accounts, I judge it to be the predominantly important detail of the cup of the Lord's Supper. And it is not the remission of sins. For if you have noticed, when the Apostle, being a Jew, writes to the Gentile church at Corinth in relation to the cup which is the symbol of the blood of Christ, he does not mention anything about sin. He does not mention anything about the remission of sin. But what he does do, the other three accounts also do in connection with the cup. And it is this. Our Lord said, according to the four accounts, that when he took the cup in his hand and you will know, of course, there was more than one cup on the table at the Passover, and there are two cups mentioned in Luke chapter 22. I have read some Jewish expositors who have insisted that there could have been as many as seven cups on the table at the time of the Passover. One was the cup of the host, and the other was the cup for Elijah, should he come in at that moment, and the other was the cup for the Messiah, and so on. So there were at least four and maybe seven cups at the Passover feast. But Luke gives us a very striking statement in connection with the two cups. It says there, the first time in Luke's account, Jesus, while they were eating, took a cup. And then, later on, after the supper was closed, or over with, then it says, the Lord now took the cup, and the definite article introduced for the second cup that is not used for the first cup. So, the first time it says he took a cup, and he said, drink ye of all of it, for I say I will no more drink of the fruit of thine, of the vine, until the kingdom of God is come. But when supper was ended, it says he took the cup, and when he took the cup, he added a specific adjective to it, and he said, this cup, in distinction to the previous cup that he had lifted and given to them. He said, this cup is the new covenant in my blood, drink ye all of it. Notice how Luke does that. So, this was a special, and a specific cup. And every time when you read these accounts, you will find something mentioned about the cup. And it is that it is the cup, it is the cup of the covenant. Now, the first cup that he took was the cup of the kingdom, because he mentions about not drinking it with them, again, of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God was come. That was the cup of the kingdom. But that's not the cup that we take on a Sunday morning. The cup that we take in the Lord's Supper is the cup of the covenant, because every time he mentions this is the blood of the new covenant, this is the cup of the new covenant in my blood. So that the predominant feature of the cup is that it is the cup of the covenant. Now you say, now why do you say that? I say that because it draws my attention immediately to notice this difference. There must be a reason for this. And then I notice that Matthew says in connection with the cup, he says, Jesus said, this is the cup of the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Very good. Mark says something different. Luke says, this is the cup of the covenant in my blood, which is given for you. And Paul, when he writes to the Corinthians, he says, this is the new covenant in my blood, drink ye all of it. And he doesn't mention the question of sin at all. And he doesn't mention the question of the blood being shed for the remission of sins. Why not? That's not the important feature in connection with the Gentile assembly. The important feature in connection with the Gentile assembly is that they who were not to be a part of the new covenant have been brought into the new covenant. So, the important feature to us Gentiles is that this is the cup of the covenant of the new covenant. And that takes you back to Jeremiah 31. Behold, the day comes of the Lord when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. And there's no mention of Gentiles in the promise of the new covenant. But when Paul writes to the Gentile church, the Gentile assembly at Corinth, he tells us that he got a word from the Lord. And the word that he got from the Lord in relation to the Lord's suffer was that this, this, for us, is the cup of the new covenant. Now, that's something that startles you when you're first paused to look at it. Because you say, we didn't have any part in the new covenant. It was to be made a covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, said the Lord. Then he goes back to the covenant that he made with their fathers when he took them out of the land of Egypt and they continue not in my covenant of the Lord. Therefore, I disregarded it. All right. That must be important to us. We must see the difference in this. Now, when our Lord came, he came and took on of the seat of Abraham. If that were all he came to do, then you and I would have no part in it. If the covenant was only to be for the house of Israel and the house of Judah, then we would have no authority whatsoever for celebrating the Lord's Supper as we do. No, he took on the fact that he knew the new covenant was going to spread out to embrace all the nations of the world. That's the feature in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. It is not the detail of the blood of Christ being shed to put away the remission of sins. Of course it does that. Don't misunderstand me. Of course it does that for us Gentiles, but that's not the main feature of the Lord's Supper as far as we are concerned. Now, the adversary took the Lord up into a high mountain and he showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time and he said, All these are mine and all the glory of them is mine. And then he said, and people have wondered how he could say that, how could you look across the world and show the Lord all the kingdoms of the world in a split second of time and make them all to pass before Him and say, These are all mine. His authority was universal. His authority was global. His authority embraced the whole world, not to mention these His followers from the heavens who also obeyed His commands. Now he makes this claim, a claim that was not contested by the Lord because it was a legal claim. He said, They're all mine. They were delivered unto me. Now the next question you ask yourself, of course, was who delivered the kingdoms of the world to Satan? Well, there was only one to whom there had been entrusted the authority over all flesh and that was Adam. And it must have been he as king of the world, as king of the earth, as the one who was given dominion over all the earth. It must have been he and it couldn't have been another who delivered into the hands of the enemy the scepter of power and authority over all the world. Now, it has been said, and you've probably heard it a number of times as well, that the devil came in as a robber. That the adversary came in and he stole the authority to be world ruler. You remember the Lord Jesus three times in John chapters 12, 14, and 16? He called the devil the prince of this world. He gave him that title. So, you know, when the adversary claims to have all the kingdoms of the world in his authority, under his control, and he says, To whomsoever I will, I will give it. I can give these kingdoms to whomsoever I will. They're mine. They were delivered to me. They were turned over to me. There must have been a basis for saying that. Especially when he said it to the Son of God. And the Lord did not contest it, for it was a legal claim. When Adam, as king of the earth, for that's what he was, who had authority over all flesh, who had authority over the birds of the air and the beasts of the field and the fish of the sea, into whose hands God placed a scepter of sovereignty, when he knowingly, willingly, stepped down beside his companion, whom God had given to him, I know not how long before, he dropped the scepter of universal authority, and the adversary snatched it up. And now, the kingdoms of the world are legally his. In John, chapter 12, when our Lord said, Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. This brings to your mind another question, a major question. If it is true, as our Lord said, at that time, at that specific moment, Now, he said, is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. How is it, then, that later on, subsequent to the cross, because it was through the cross, our Lord won back to God and to himself world authority? Because, you see, as Colossians, chapter 1, tells us, it was not only in him that all things were created, thrones, principalities and powers, dominions. It was not only by him. There are three major prepositions in Colossians, chapter 1. The one is the preposition in, location. In him were all things created, whether they be thrones or dominions, principalities and powers. Everything was created in him. It was all, he was the reservoir of all that came to be and came to be visible. It was in him. But then the next preposition is used, the preposition of instrumentality. All things were created through him or by him. And then the final one is everything was made for him. So, you see, he is the center of it, and he is the one who came to buy back, by himself, he was to reconcile all things to God. That was the sufficiency of his sacrifice. So, as Peter writes to the apostate, he says, These deny the Lord that bought them. Is there anything that doesn't belong to him now? Nothing. He has reconciled the world to God. He has bought everything by the value of the life that was given and the blood that was shed. He has bought everything back to God, and he now is the one to whom it can be said to him is given power or authority over all flesh. Now, these are the only three that I know of of whom we could say that they were universal rulers. Men have longed for authority. They have fought for it. They have bought, tried to buy it. They have done everything and anything because they have lusted after authority. You know, my friends, when you stop to think about it, there isn't any authority except what is delegated. You can think of it in the broadest terms you wish. Authority only belongs to God. And if anything has received authority, that's exactly what has happened. It has been bestowed upon them. It has been given to them because all authority is delegated. There's no authority that isn't delegated. Nobody owns it. Nobody produces it. Nobody creates it. It must come from somewhere else. That's why we are all stewards of any and every authority which we are called upon to exercise. If it's in a marriage, if it's in a family, if it's in a Sunday school class, if it's in business, if it's in politics, wherever it may be, authority belongs only to God. So, it must be conferred. It must be delegated. It must be given from someone else to the person who is to exercise it. We sometimes feel we have a right to be authoritative. Don't you love these people that always, whenever they speak, it's the last word, never is another word after they have said it. I love these people, you know. Well, I guess I'll have to take back that statement. I really have difficulty loving them, but, anyway, there are people like that. We have some friends like that, and they're difficult to get along with. But, there are people like that who feel that everything they say is authoritative. It is the last word. Don't question it. Don't add anything to it. This is the alpha and the omega on the subject. Nobody else has anything to say. Remember, nobody personally, innately, has authority. That isn't delegated to them from a higher source. All right. Then what we have here, the Lord is saying to his Father, as thou hast given to your Son authority over all flesh. Now, what is it for? As we commented last night briefly, it's to give eternal life. Now, if you go back to the Gospels by John, which gospel preachers just love to do, and they have their favorite passages, of course, as we all do, in the Gospels by John. You remember, in John chapter 3 and 16, everybody knows that verse. And John chapter 3 and verse 36, which the gospeller loves to use, and I have done it many times myself. He that believeth on the Son has everlasting life. And he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Tell me, why could that be said? On what basis could that be said? He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. What is the authority for making a statement like that? Well, I discovered some time ago, which I hadn't noticed for many years, that John 3 and 36 is so very well known, and often repeated, but John 3 and 35 isn't nearly so well known. And yet, if there were no John 3 and 35, there never could be any John 3 and 36. Don't look at it. How many of you can quote John 3 and 35? Isn't that true of us all, though? And one day I stopped to think in my dark, benighted mind. I wonder why this was stated so clearly like this. And then I noticed that the verse previous said, the Father loves the Son and has put all things into His hands. He that believeth on the Son has everlasting life. Is He where the authority comes from? The Father loves His Son and has put everything into His hands, inclusive eternal life. And if you wish eternal life, my friends, there is no eternal life apart from the Lord Jesus Himself. The Father has put everything into His hands, and He that believeth on the Son has everlasting life. That's the ultimate authority in relation to eternal life. And then last evening, I think we mentioned something about John chapter 13, Jesus knowing that the Father has put all things into His hands. Ultimate, absolute authority. He girds Himself with a towel, and you get down and wash the disciples' feet. Absolute authority expressed in humble service. And I say to you again, that's the true expression of authority, is humility and willingness to serve. Remember He said, You call Me Master and Lord, and you say, Well, for so I am. If I, then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye ought also to wash one another's feet. The servant is not greater than this Lord, nor is the disciple greater than he that taught him. This is authority. This is authority in action. Again, that's not the kind of authority we are used to looking at. So He says here, As thou hast given him authority over all flesh. Anybody, at any time, who has received any kind of authority must give an account of it. Because all authority is delegated. Because no one is authoritative in himself. So, every one of us must give an account of himself to God. And how was that said, and why was it said? Did you notice where that verse in Romans chapter 14 came from? Do you remember the whole chapter is the content about the weak brother despising, or judging rather, the strong brother? And the strong brother is despising the weak brother, and so on. And then you get down in the chapter, and Paul says, So then every one of us must give an account of himself to God. And I said to myself one day, This is a quotation from somewhere. I wonder where this came from. Because the setting in Romans chapter 14 is the internal relationships of brethren. But then you go back to Isaiah 45 where it came from, and you read these words, Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none other. The word is gone forth from my mouth, and it shall not return unto me. As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. All the ends of the earth, it's a universal proclamation. As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. It comes to Romans chapter 14, and that which was a universal statement in Isaiah chapter 45 is applied to brethren in assembly fellowship. So you see, there's another occasion when the Spirit of God is as pleased to interpret the passages of Scripture as He wills. I was taught when I was younger, don't get the wrong idea, I'm not getting old yet, but when I was younger, I was taught that Scripture only has one interpretation and many applications. And I believed that, of course. Never questioned what you were taught in my younger days. We didn't have that spirit of inquiry, we didn't have that spirit that put the question mark over everything that we heard until we ourselves had proved it to be correct. No, we just believed what we were told, and especially when we were told it from the platform, the conference platform. How guileless we were. But then, as time goes on, we started a little thinking for ourselves, and when we began a little thinking for ourselves, we said, I wonder if that's right. And since I've been doing that, I've found out that a number of things which we glibly quote as cliches are not really true at all. There's a lot of nice little ditties and choruses, you know, every promise in the Bible is mine, every verse, every something, every line, which isn't true at all, it sounds nice, but it's not true that every promise in the book is mine. There are some promises in the book that have absolutely nothing to do with me, and never will have anything to do with me. But it's kind of a nice little thing to say. We say a lot of things like that, though. We often say, too, some of you aren't going to like me for this, but we often say, you know, this is the day which the Lord has made, we'll be glad in which I say it. And I have great difficulty when I wake up in some dirty, rainy, muddy, sludgy morning, when nobody wants to go anywhere, but you have to go to work anyway, and you're just feeling rotten because it's just a rotten day. And some dear little soul comes up to me and says, now, Brother Dave, no complaints, because this is the day which the Lord has made. And I heard that a lot of times before I had the courage to say, by the way, do you know where that verse is? Oh, no, but it's in the Bible. I know it's in the Bible. Do you know whereabouts in the Bible it is? Well, no, but I expect it's a proverb. Well, it happens to be a psalm. Oh, you know what the psalm is talking about? No, no, not particularly. I don't. Well, let me tell you something. He's not talking about the weather. Oh. Oh. I see. Well, you don't know what he's talking about. No. Well, let me tell you what he's talking about. Our Lord quoted part of this in Matthew 22. The word is fulfilled, he said, and the builders, the stone that the builders rejected has become the head of the corner. This is the Lord's doing, and it's marvelous in our eyes. Wonderful. And we will say, this is the day which the Lord has made. When? Jesus is coming back, my friends. And the one who was vilified here on earth, who was carried to the cross, who was nailed to the cross, the builders rejected him. They cast him out as unwanted and unclean. But, he's coming back again. And when he comes back again, what's Israel going to say? This stone which was rejected by the builders has become the head of the corner. And we will say, this is the day which the Lord has made. We'll be glad and rejoiced in it. You see, really, it has nothing to do with the weather. And I have great difficulty in attributing to the Lord some of the days that I discover when I get up in the morning. You say, well, no one else but God could make the weather. Are you sure about that? Biblically, are you sure about that? Oh no, that's not true. The devil has considerable control over the weather as well. Now, says the Master here, Thou hast given him authority over all flesh. And I, for one, am delighted that it should be this way. I am, for one, delighted in the time that's coming when we ourselves shall give an account of ourselves to God. Because, you see, we must all appear before the Judge and see the Christ. He's the Judge of His own. The Lord shall judge His people. And of the day coming, according to Corinthians, in 2 Corinthians 5 and 10, when you and I are going to be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ. Because to Him has been given to exercise authority over all flesh. It's going to be a marvelous day. You say, well, you might feel that way, but I don't. Well, but why do I feel that way? Well, I know a lot of people are very apprehensive about the judgment seat of Christ and what the consequences are going to be. And other people have it painted as a sunny school picnic, you know. It's one of the bus tour days out at Park of the Palms, something like that. You go and get a wonderful plate of Chinese food. $1.98, I think it is. Something like that. And that's what I was taught when I was younger again. I was taught that the judgment seat of Christ was a time when we all got up there to receive our ice cream cone and the prize and go off to some planet somewhere or another. And then I read the verse over again and again and again. And then the more I read it over, the more I thought about it. We must all be made manifest for the judgment seat of Christ. That every one of us or each of us must receive the things that he has done in his body, whether good or bad. And then I was told, well, that word bad, it just means something that's of no worth at all, so there'll be a big blank there. No, brethren, it's not so. It's bad in the sense of being evil. You mean we Christians? We Christians. We are going to be judged according to the things we've done in the body? Yes. The good things? Yes. And the bad things? You say, well, now, why are you waiting with so much anticipation for the judgment seat of Christ? Let me tell you why. Because that's going to be the final moment when everything that I inherited... You see, you folks have an advantage over me because when people say, how do you write your name? How do you spell your name? I say, well, you know the man that caused all the trouble in the first place? Well, just multiply by putting an S on the end of it, and you've got it. The things which I have inherited that are evil, the things which I have practiced and expressed that are evil, the things which sometimes still haunt me because of them, and the things that come as a backlash to me later on, after having said something far too readily, that that has been produced by the old man, which I understand now is crucified with Christ, but is still very present in his expression, that's going to appear and be put away for the last time. And I, for one, will be glad when it's gone, and gone forever. And I know, of course, that our viewpoint, when we're at the judgment seat of Christ, is not the one we harbor now, because now we harbor the apprehension, but if I am to be manifested, that's the word, we've got to be made manifest, we have to be manifested at the judgment seat of Christ. For the Father, you see, has put all authority into his hands, and the Father judges no man, John 5 and 22, but he's committed all judgment unto the Son, including the judgment of his people. And he will exercise that judgment when he decides what's going to happen and when it's going to happen for me. That's when I will know that the doctrinal truth that I have reveled in, that I am in Christ, that the old man was crucified with Christ, but I know he's very much alive still. I know that they are there in the flesh, can it please God? But I am not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, and so be it that the Spirit of God dwells in me. That's positional, my brothers, but that's not practical. That's not realistic as far as our daily life is concerned. We all know that we make outbreaks of that old man that was crucified with Christ, but there's a day coming when it will never, ever again exert any kind of authority over our minds, our spirits, our hearts, or our souls. That's the best thing that I apprehend about the judgment seat of Christ. But because all authority has been committed unto Him, it will be He that will do it in that day. And we're not afraid to meet Him, are we? No. And then you may move on, of course. God's given Him authority to exercise judgment over all flesh. Go to Matthew 24. He's coming in the clouds of heaven. He's going to sit upon the throne of His glory. He's going to bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat. He's going to judge the nations. That'll be a marvelous day, won't it, when we see Him vindicated? Remember what the Lord said to the high priest? He said, I put you under oath that you tell us whether you are the Christ or not. And our Lord said, You said it. I'm going to tell you something else. You will see the heavens open, the Son of Man coming in power and great glory. Why did He say that to the high priest? Because it was the high priest of whom our Lord said to Pilate, He that delivered me unto thee has the greater sin. Who delivered Christ into the hands of Pilate? Not Judas, but the high priest did. And He said, You'll see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, sitting in the right hand of power. And the high priest tore his garments. And I say to myself now, the Master said the high priest would see Him, but the high priest is in Hades. He's in hell tonight. Well, then, he's going to see Him anyway. And that opened another lovely thought in my mind. And that is, when the Lord comes back again with all the holy angels in the clouds of heaven in the glory of His Father, I believe, my friends, that God's going to open the underworld. They're going to see Him when He comes. Every eye shall see Him. That's individual and that's universal. Every eye shall see Him. And those also who pierced Him. And if Jesus said, You will see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven, the high priest is going to see Him. Even out of Hades, He will see Him come. It'll be a marvelous day. Won't it, though? Just a marvelous day. And here's the Lord making a statement like this of which we could meditate and say more. As Thou hast given Him power of authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him. Lord, where we shall continue our meditation of this subject in His good time. Let us pray. Our Father, we rejoice in the knowledge that our Lord certainly shall be vindicated in the day when He comes. We thank Thee the sands and the hills and roads of Judea that He trod. We'll see Him again. He shall stand on the mount of Olives which is before Jerusalem on the east. There shall be a great earthquake. We rejoice to know that we shall see Him as we come with Him. He is our Beloved and He is our Lord. We thank Thee for being found in Christ tonight. Beyond the range of judgment as others shall know it. We stand gladly in His presence. We shall own Him.
The Lord's Prayer - Part 2
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