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The great awakening cry before Christ’s return

SGAT CENTENARY SERVICE – NEWTOWNABBEY FPC. Saturday 3rd November, 2018.
Scripture: “And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him,” Matthew 25:6.
We meet together this evening in humble acknowledgement of the Lord’s favour to us in these last days that He has preserved His truth concerning His second advent and that He has reawakened amongst His people an awareness of just what He has said by all His prophets on this glorious and blessed truth. 
It was Peter who told us that the second advent of Christ was the subject of the preaching of all of God’s prophets. “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began,” Acts 3:19-21. And it was Jude who gave us an example of just what it was that the prophets preached since the dawn of time. He quotes Enoch, the seventh from Adam, who said, “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him,” Jude 1:14-15. I believe that it was most likely that Adam heard such preaching.
The restitution of all things at the return of the Lord Jesus Christ has then been the subject of the ALL the prophets.
The return of Christ, universally spoken of by the prophets throughout the ages from the very beginning and yet how neglected it is by so many of God’s servants today and not only today but, to a large degree, for centuries! At this time we meet to bless God for His stirring of the hearts of some men and opening their eyes to this great truth in the last 180 years approximately.
As it was at the time of Reformation, when there was a re-discovering of the teachings of Holy Scripture on the central truths of the gospel, there was a recovering of the Bible’s teaching on the Second Advent of Christ amongst a number of men in the early part of the 19th century. Andrew Bonar and his brother Horatio, Benjamin Wills Newton, George Mueller, S P Tregelles, Dr C.Y. Biss, David Baron and others gave leadership in the proclamation of the truth of Holy Scripture on this most vital of subjects. There were those, who through the dark times that went before, had proclaimed the truth of a pre-millennial, post-tribulation return of Christ. The London Baptist Confession of 1660 along with the writings of some of the Westminster Divines, bear witness of this fact.
Because the men, whose names I have listed and whose writings feature amongst the publications of the SGAT, rejected the long-held notion of A-millennialism, that is, that there is no Millennial Kingdom of Christ taught in the Bible, they were mocked and despised by those who clung to this view, which had its origins in the heretical teachings of Origen, 184-253 AD. Origen wrote hundreds of homilies covering almost the entire Bible, interpreting many passages as allegorical. His method of interpretation became increasingly the norm for most preachers, even after the Reformation. One has only to consider the exposition of prophecy in the writings of most commentators and expositors, found in fundamentalist preachers’ libraries, to see that this is so.
Some years ago, Dr John Douglas printed a leaflet in which he drew a parallel between the principle of exegesis adhered to by those we have come to call ‘Modernists and Liberals’ and the A-millennialists. Both rely heavily on the thesis of Origen, spiritualising prophecy rather than taking it as it is literally stated in God’s Word. It did not cause much joy amongst our A-millennialist brethren but no one came forward to refute what Dr Douglas stated!
This evening, we salute the memories of those whose testimony and witness gave rise to the formation of the SGAT 100 years ago and also those whose labours have kept the flame of truth burning brightly over the last 100 years, principally Mr George Fromow, the first SGAT Secretary, and his successor and the present Secretary, Mr Stephen Toms. We owe much to their incessant and selfless labours. I must mention Mrs Jean Toms as well. She has been a stalwart helper in every aspect of the SGAT witness. She has aided in the posting out of each edition of the “The Watching & Waiting” magazine. She has been a faithful attender at all the public meetings of the SGAT, providing refreshments at the end of meetings and often hosting guest speakers who needed overnight accommodation.
My wife, Ann, and I have enjoyed the hospitality of the Toms’ home on many occasions. I salute them both as do many here tonight. I know that Dr John Douglas would wish to be associated with these words.
May it please the Lord to so bless the witness of the SGAT that henceforth we may see more and more of God’s people enjoying the truths that have been long neglected
Tonight, I wish to speak upon just such an awakening as set forth by the Lord Jesus.
“And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him,” Matthew 25:6.
I want us to notice the time of this cry, then the substance of this cry and finally the effects of this cry.
I. THE TIME OF THIS CRY.
“At midnight there was a cry made.”
1. The hour of deepest darkness. ‘Midnight’ means the middle of the night. The sun is at its furthermost point from the land. 1 Thess 5:2.
2. The hour when darkness is about to give way to dawn. From that ‘middle of the night’ moment the time advances toward dawn.
3. It is the time an army is roused for battle. This was the time of Gideon’s attack, Judges 7:19. God is pleased to stir His people and awaken them to the need of the hour. Without grace, none would know the character of the times in which we live. Isa 22:12-13. 1 Chron 12:1-22 (Israel beginning to awaken to David). Among them were the men of Issachar, “men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do,” verse 32. I believe that such understanding will be granted at the close of this age as the time for great David’s Greater Son, draws near. Something of that imparting of understanding may be seen in Daniel 9. “In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem,” verse 2. The word ‘understand’ means ‘discerned’, ‘give regard.’ Daniel most certainly would have known Jeremiah’s prophecy but it took on particular significance at this time.
II. THE SUBSTANCE OF THE CRY
1. Behold. The word is translated ‘lo’ or ‘see’ in a number of places. Matt 24:23. It refers to deceivers claiming that Christ has come. But when the Lord has this cry sounded to announce His coming (1 Thess 4:16) none shall mistake it!
2. The Bridegroom. He is the One taken away (Mark 2:20). The word means ‘carried away’! Something of the sense of loss seen in Acts 1:10.-11. He is One longed for. 1 Thess 1:10.
3. Cometh. Believers have experienced many things coming to them from Heaven. James 1:17. But what a ‘coming’ this will be! “And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts,” Haggai 2:7.
4. Go ye out to meet Him. These will be our final mortal steps and the first of our immortality! “Behold,  . . every eye shall see him,” Revelation 1:7.
III. THE EFFECTS OF THE CRY
“Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.”
1. The word ‘arose’ illustrated for us. The word is akin to the base of another word which means “to collect one’s faculties.” It must be like the experience of the “Prodigal” when he “came to himself.” Before he came home to his father’s house he came to himself! Another illustration of the meaning is found in Matthew 8:15. “And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them,” Surely after a bout of fever, Peter’s mother-in-law “collected her wits.” Peter’s mother-in-law would have been in a state of confusion and delusion but when the fever left she came to her senses. I believe that something similar will happen to the Church just before Christ returns! The ‘feverish hallucinations’ that many have for centuries entertained regarding the Bible’s teaching about the return of Christ will then evaporate!
How defenceless were the sleepers! They were open to any assault the enemy wished to make. So it is with a sleeping Church!
2. There is a returning to their long-neglected duties! The duties the 1st Century Church engaged in, aye and many before them! Jude 14-15; Job 18:25, Isaiah 29:9; Luke 2:25; Roms 8:23. Shedding light abroad and walking in it as they joyfully expect their Saviour.
3. The impact of their restoration. A realisation by the ungodly that they do not have oil! They were made to see their need by the actions of the restored virgins!
There is a lesson here for us today. Would we see our friends and loved ones awakened to their need? Then let us seek to live as will these virgins when aroused and awakened by the voice from heaven!
Conference Speakers and Chairman
Panel discussion under way in the afternoon.
Evening meeting.
Some whom attended the day of conference.

The parable of the wheat and the tares

The Parable of the Tares – Matt 13:24-30; 36-43.
Preached at the Sovereign Grace Advent Testimony  monthly meeting in London, 22nd  June 2018
 
By Rev Ivan Foster.
There is a need for us to seek the Lord for a right understanding of His Word. As He says: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.” Isaiah 55:8.
It would be wrong to simply place our own interpretation upon His Word.
The Lord is most willing to explain His truth to us as we seek out the prophetic teaching of the parable. “Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field,” Matthew 13:36. The word ‘declare’ means ‘make plain or explain’.
I. BELIEVERS ARE TO EXPECT SATANIC ACTIVITY UP UNTIL THE END OF THIS AGE!
1. This contradicts the views of those who teach ‘Post Millennialism’. Postmillennialism is the belief that Christ returns after a period of time, but not necessarily a literal 1000 years.
Those who hold this view do not interpret unfulfilled prophecy literally. They believe that Rev 20:4-6 should not be taken literally.  – “a 1000 years” simply means “a long period of time.” Furthermore, the prefix “post-” in “postmillennialism” denotes the view that Christ will return after Christians, not Christ, have established the kingdom on this earth.
Those who hold to this view believe that this world will become better and better, despite the evidence of our eyes and ears and, above all, of Holy Scripture. The world is not becoming “Christianized” as the holders of this notion would teach. If we are to wait on that happening before Christ returns then He will never return. The trend evidenced in the old world is clearly manifested today. “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. . . . . . The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth,” Genesis 6:5, 11-12.
2. It also contradicts the views of a ’secret rapture’. Note verse 30. “Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” Here they both grow TOGETHER until the harvest and then it is the tares which are first cut down. This is the very opposite to what JN Darby and his disciples taught.
a. Satan is active through his ‘children’. Just as the children of God serve Him in His vineyard so it is the children of the ‘wicked one’ serve him in seeking to destroy God’s vineyard. The relationship between the devil and the unsaved is that of ‘father and child’! This speaks of likeness 
and love. “Men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil,” John 3:19. As the Saviour said to the Jews: “Ye do the deeds of your father, . . . . Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it,” John 8:41, 44. Again, being the children of the devil they engage in his labours.  “Ye do the deeds of your father,” John 8:41. The word  ‘deeds’ means ‘labour or work’.
b. He has his children everywhere. “The field is the world,” verse 38. Everywhere the gospel is preached and the Kingdom of God is advanced, the devil plants his seed within its ranks.
c. They bear an outward likeness to God’s people. Even as tares bear some outward resemblance to wheat.
d. Note the enmity that exists toward the tares amongst God’s servants. “He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?” Matthew 13:28. Such a spirit is very proper. “And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel,” Genesis 3:14-15.
There is a God-planted spirit of enmity toward the devil and his works in the heart of every believer. But the servants were wrong is seeking to remove them. “But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them,” verse 29. We are called upon to suffer the presence and many of the activities of the ungodly. “But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also,” Matthew 5:39. We are not to resist with violence the acts off the devil upon God’s work. “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord,” Romans 12:19.
II. AS TIME PASSES, THE TARES LOSE ANY LIKENESS THEY MAY HAVE HAD TO THE WHEAT.
We have considered how this parable refutes the teaching of those who hold to Post-Millennialism and also those who teach a “secret rapture” the redeemed before the cutting off of the wicked.
The parable also refutes the teaching of A-Millennialists. They state that we are in the period described in Revelation 20:1-6, when specifically we are told that an angel “laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season,” Revelation 20:2-3.
Thus they claim that:
Satan is presently bound with a chain, cast into the bottomless pit, shut him up, sealed,  unable to deceive the nations no more and that the saints reign with Christ and the world is at peace.
This parable sets forth a very different scenario.
1. The tares are not cut down, even though God’s servants would dearly love to see that happen.
2. The tares continue to flourish and dominate as weeds tend to do.
3. Their true character becomes ever more evident. “But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also,” Matthew 13:26. The meaning of the word ‘appeared’ may be seen by its use in Matthew 1:20. “But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.” What an plain unmistakeable manifestation of the person of the angel this was! Even so will the wicked amongst the people of God become as we draw nearer the harvest, the end of this age and the return of Christ.
Like Judas, they will come out in their true colours toward the end. He deceived the rest of the disciples until he appeared with the mob. “Lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast. And forthwith he came to Jesus, and greeted Him Hail, master; and kissed him,” Matthew 26:47-49. He who kissed the Saviour joyfully, for that is the meaning of ‘hail’. See the same word translated as rejoice in Matthew 2:10. “When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.” And also in Matthew 5:12. “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” How deceitful was Judas but he merely pictures the general spirit of the unconverted. Judas called the Lord Jesus ‘Master’ but he was in fact “the son of perdition”, John 17:12.
So it is seen today. The ‘professing church’ has become more worldly, more devil-like in its ways and words as the ‘harvest’ draws nearer.. From its ranks may be heard the voice of those to whom Jude refers. “To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him,” Jude 1:15. Make no mistake about this matter. These are those who mingle with the people of God pretending to be of them. “These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever,” Jude 1:12-13.
They are pretenders who profess to be what they are not, to possess what they have not!
Such is the teaching of this parable.
III. AS AUTUMN APPROACHES, THE TARES REACH THEIR FULNESS.
Is this not what Scriptures says of the last days!
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come,” 2 Tim 3:1. The word ‘perilous’ appears in only one other place. “And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way,” Matthew 8:28.
I think that we can say this man and his companion were the worst cases of devil-possession that Christ encountered.
Remember what we read in Revelation 13:11-12. “And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth . . . . . . And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.”
Here are “two possessed with devils . . . .  exceeding fierce.” In these two men of Gadara we have a picture of the fulness the tares will reach at the end of time. The Antichrist and the False Prophet will be but the fulness of the general spirit amongst the ungodly.
IV. THE DESTINATION OF THE TARES.
“As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world,” verse 40. That is the end of the “age” for such is the meaning of the word “aion”, here translated by the word ‘world’.
Such then is the end of the wicked.
1. Let this encourage us. “For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning. If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children. When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors,” Psalm 73:14-19.
The desire to be rid of the “tares” will one day be satisfied as God deals with them.
2. Let this stir us to evangelise. We all realise surely that we were once as the tares. “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God,” 1 Corinthians 6:11. We were wonderfully changed by the mercy and grace of God in the day we were rescued and made new. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new,” 2 Corinthians 5:17.
This we desire for the poor sinners around us. We hold the message of deliverance in our hands. “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved,” Acts 2:21. Let us sound it out loud and clear!
Abraham strove with God in prayer when he heard of the judgment that was to fall upon Sodom.  Christ wept at the prospect of Jerusalem’s destruction. “And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,” Luke 19:41.
Recall the reaction of Paul to the troubles of the unbelieving Jews. “I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh,” Romans 9:1-3.
So should we desire and pray and act.
Let that be so with us as well.

Studies in Ezekiel Chapters 25-28

The Visions of the Judgment of the Nations around Israel (Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyrus)

Preached at a meeting of the Sovereign Grace Advent Testimony in London, June 23 2017, By Rev Ivan Foster

To stream or download, click SGAT – Ezekiel 25-28

These 4 chapters detail the judgments of God which befell the nations around Israel at the hand of Babylon back some 2600 years ago.

Three of the chapters deal with Tyrus. I believe that what is here read is a picture, a foreshadowing of the future judgments of God against the Antichrist and his allies.

The Bible says that: “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun,” Ecclesiastes 1:9.
Such a statement is entirely logical.

Man is unchanging in his spiritual disposition and constitution.

Contrary to the Evolutionist’s silly notion that man is on an upward moral path, in truth man is ever on the sinful, depraved downward path. It is only by God’s constraining providence that mankind has not long ago plunged into unspeakable depths of universal darkness and the damnation that will follow.

No, man being the same he ever seeks out the same sinful paths as did his forefathers.
God being the same, and He is, “For I am the LORD, I change not,” Malachi 3:6, His response to sin has ever been the same.

When nations sin as nations have before, then the judgments that will follow such sin will again be as the judgments of the past.

The chapter 25 deals with the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Edomites and the Philistines. I do not intend examining each declaration of judgment against these nations for that would require more time than is available to us tonight.

I wish to highlight important features in these chapters.

I. FOR ISRAEL, THE MOUTH THAT UTTERED JUDGMENT ALSO SPOKE OF DELIVERANCE AND RETRIBUTION AGAINST THEIR ENEMIES.

Doubtless, there was comfort for poor distressed Israel in these words of judgment against those who had rejoiced in their distresses which followed their apostasy.
They had received God’s word of judgment, 21:1-17 and what a terrible word it was. Note that the word ‘sword’ appears many times. It is the sword of God’s judgment. When will men learn that it is a terrible and fearful thing to sin and to “fall into the hands of the living God,” Hebrews 10:31.

But now it was the turn of the enemy to be condemned.

It does not pay to mock at the distress of God’s people. “And say unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou saidst, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity . . . . For thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast clapped thine hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced in heart with all thy despite against the land of Israel; Behold, therefore I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and will deliver thee for a spoil to the heathen; and I will cut thee off from the people, and I will cause thee to perish out of the countries: I will destroy thee; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD. . . And I will execute judgments upon Moab; and they shall know that I am the LORD. . . . . Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword. And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord GOD.  . . . . Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred; Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will stretch out mine hand upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethims, and destroy the remnant of the sea coast,” Ezekiel 25:3, 6-7, 11, 13-16. “Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people: she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste: Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up. And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock,” Ezekiel 26:2-4.

We can learn from these words.

1. Such truths preserve us from despair in the midst of tribulation. “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day,” 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10.

2. They keep us back from seeking revenge against our tormentors. “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord,” Romans 12:19. Hear the words of the Pslamist. “For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.” God preserves His people from seeking vengeance.

3. Being aware of God’s judgments serves to keep us in the fear of God. “And David was afraid of God that day, saying, How shall I bring the ark of God home to me?” 1 Chronicles 13:12. “And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things,” Acts 5:5.
Is there not a great absence of such a fear today?

II. NOTE THE DISPOSITION OF THE PROPHET.

“Son of man, set thy face against the Ammonites, and prophesy against them,” Ezekiel 25:2.

It is no light thing to pronounce God’s judgments against sin. This rather cuts across the light and frivolous spirit so often seen in pulpits today!

1. In this he displayed God’s disposition. His countenance was to be appropriate to the solemn words he was to utter. When God’s truth is in our hearts our countenances will reflect it. So it was with Elisha as he spoke God’s terrible word to Hazel. “And he settled his countenance stedfastly, until he was ashamed: and the man of God wept,” 2 Kings 8:11.

2. Such a disposition will draw the world’s hatred. “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus,” Acts 4:13. It was what they ‘saw’ that caught their attention as was also the case with Stephen. “And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel,” Acts 6:15. Despite that they stoned him to death!

3. It is a terrible thing to have God’s face against you. In truth, it seals your eternal doom. “And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name,” Leviticus 20:3, 26:14-17.

III. THE REASONS FOR THE JUDGMENT

We have already noted the words of 25:3, 6, 8, 12, 13-15. Note “because”!

1. God has a record of the sins against His people. 27:27-36; Rev 18:4-5.

2. It is a record even of the words spoken against His people. 26:2. “Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people: she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste,” Ezekiel 25:3, 8, 26:2. Remember the words of the Saviour. “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment,” Matthew 12:36.

3. All linked with the enemies will suffer. 27:27. The importance of ‘separation’ will then be known. “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues,” Revelation 18:4.

It is a doctrine much despised today and indeed it is called sinful and unchristian. That will be seen as a grave error one day.

IV. GOD’S JUDGMENTS ARE MOST DREADFUL

25:10-11, 13, 15-17; 26:3-6, 21.

1. The strongest of terms are employed by the Lord. There is no exaggeration with the Lord (unlike North Korea). 25:10, 13, 14 (anger, fury), 16 (cut off etc.)

2. Israel will be God’s instrument of judgment. “And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord GOD,” Ezekiel 25:14.

Isaiah 11:14, 41:14-16;  Jeremiah 51:19-24; Micah 4:8-13; Zechariah 9:13-17.

3. Then shall the divine order be established. Deut 28:1-14. From verse 15 we are told why it is with Israel as it is today!

May the Lord be pleased to bless these words to our hearts.