And this work of Himself as our Priest, the merciful and faithful High Priest and our Advocate goes on up yonder uninterruptedly. In Isaiah we find a word which speaks of Him, "He shall not fail nor be discouraged."
Well may we apply this to His present work as Priest and Advocate of His own. As Priest He will never fail. He will never fail in being about His own, in keeping them and sustaining them, in sending them help from the sanctuary in time of need. As Advocate He will not be discouraged. The same old failures in our lives, which humble us and break us down, but He continues in this service in behalf of His poor sinning people. Some Christians do not believe in the fundamental doctrine of the Gospel, that a child of G.o.d in possession of eternal life can never be lost.
They think it depends on their walk and service. If one of His own could ever be lost again, if even the weakest, the most imperfect could be s.n.a.t.c.hed out of His hands, His present work would be a failure as well as His finished work on the cross. But read the great high-priestly prayer He left for us in John xvii. There He prays the Father, who heareth Him always, that His own may be kept.
His Work for the Church.
Another aspect of His present work is what He does for His church. We can but briefly indicate what this means.
He is in glory the Head of the church. The church is His body, the fullness of Him, that filleth all in all.
Every believing sinner is a member in that body. The risen Lord Himself adds new members to that body. He puts each member into the body as it pleases Him. Each member is guided and directed by Himself. He supplies this body with gifts.
"And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
"For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.
"Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of G.o.d, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph. iv:11-13).
Thus He builds up from the Glory His own body. Some day that body will be complete. Then we all come unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. That will be when we see Him as He is. Then His present work in behalf of His own, His coheirs, will be finished.
Brought home from this wilderness to the Father"s house--safe home--there will be no need any longer for His power and love to sustain us. No more tears will then be shed, no more wounds of pain and sorrow to be soothed, no more help is needed for the time of need; all that is pa.s.sed. Nor does He then need to exercise His office as Advocate, for we are delivered forever from the presence of sin and sanctified wholly body, soul and spirit. Sinning is then an impossibility. What a happy, glorious day that will be!
III.
The Practical Results of His Present Work in the Christian"s Life.
The fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is in Glory occupied with us should lead us into a holy life which glorifies Him. That loving eye is never withdrawn from us. If we were to remember this constantly, what a power this would be in our lives! How many things would remain undone, how many words unspoken, and how many other things done, if we were constantly conscious of that eye which is upon us individually. He represents us before G.o.d, and we are to represent Him before men. A Christian is called to manifest Christ to be His representative. And such a life, which is unto His praise and Glory, is made possible through His blessed intercessory work and His presence in heaven. A true Christian life depends much on this heart occupation with the Person and work of Christ. As His presence up yonder and His service for us is a reality to our hearts through the power of the Holy Spirit, we shall walk worthy of the Lord, and His blessed work for us will constantly be felt in our lives here on earth. What a joy it is then, as we reckon only with Him, who knows us, to serve Him, to depend on Him. And how we should shun anything which grieves Him.
Encouragement for Prayer.
These blessed facts of the Lord"s loving interest in us and our life in this present evil age, surrounded by dangers and evils of all kinds, will be a great encouragement to us in our prayer life. We can go and tell Him all about that which troubles us. If He is interested in everything which happens to us, down to the smallest matter, then we can go to him in prayer and tell Him about it. Some Christians teach that we should not do this, but leave it all in His hands without praying for it, satisfied that His will be done. But this is contrary to Scripture, for it says that in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving we are to make our requests known (Phil. iv:6). He delights to have us tell Him, and like John"s disciples we can go to Him and tell Him. His ear is always open. If in His service we become tired and weary, we can tell Him, for He was tired on account of the way. If hungry or without a resting place, He knows what that means, for He pa.s.sed through this. If lonely and our best services are misunderstood, or the fiery darts of the enemy are aimed against us, we can speak to Him about it. All this can be so very real to us if we but go on led by His spirit.
Deliverance from Worry.
It should make an end of all worry and anxiety. We may possess a divine carelessness. Be careful for nothing. Have no anxiety. Why should we worry or be anxious? Worry is the child of unbelief. Anxiety can never stay if the eyes of the heart behold the man in Glory and faith realizes that all is in the hands of One "who doeth all things well." Worry and anxiety accuse Him. Martha did that when she was enc.u.mbered with much service and then said to Him, "Dost Thou not care?" Each time we give way to anxiety, we act as if He did not care. But He does; and He would have us rest in faith and commit all to Himself.
Sharing His Work.
In conclusion we must not forget that He permits us to have some share in this blessed work of His. While He prays for us, we can pray one for another, and for all the saints. He intercedes; we can intercede. He washes our feet, typical of the cleansing by the Word. We are to wash one another"s feet. He carries our burdens, but the exhortation also is that we carry one another"s burden. He forgives and restores. We are to forbear one another, and forgive one another, "even as Christ forgave us" (Col. iii:13).
III.
HIS FUTURE WORK
The Lord Jesus Christ, who finished the work on earth the Father gave Him to do, who is now bodily present in the highest heaven, occupying the Father"s throne and exercising His priesthood in behalf of His people, is also King. To Him belongeth a Kingdom and a kingly Glory. He has therefore a kingly work to do. While His past work was foretold by the Spirit of G.o.d and His priestly work foreshadowed in the Old Testament, His work as King and His glorious Kingdom to come are likewise the subjects of the Word of G.o.d.
Predicted by the Prophets.
His kingly work was announced by Gabriel to the Virgin. "The Lord G.o.d shall give unto Him the throne of His father David and He shall reign over the house of David forever; and of His Kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke i:32, 33). According to this message He must occupy the throne of His father David, He must reign and possess a Kingdom. This is but heaven"s confirmation of what G.o.d"s prophets for many centuries had uttered in announcing the coming of the Messiah. The entire prophetic Word has its climax in the visions of the King and the Kingdom, He will receive on this earth. These visions of glory to come, for Him who was despised and rejected of men, are the glittering stars shining throughout the dark night of the past and present age. They dazzle the eyes of faith. They inspire hope and courage. We quote a few Scriptures which relate to the Christ as King.
"Yet I have set my King upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord has said unto Me, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten Thee. Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the nations for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession"
(Ps. ii:6-8). "It is He that will judge the world in righteousness" (Ps.
xi:7). "All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord, and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before Thee. For the Kingdom is the Lord"s and He is the governor among the nations" (Ps.
xxii:27-28). "Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of Glory shall come in. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of Glory" (Ps. xxiv:9-10).
"All ye peoples clap your hands, shout unto G.o.d with the voice of triumph! For Jehovah, the Most High, is terrible, a great King over all the earth" (Ps. xlvii:2). "He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and the poor with judgment." "Yea, all Kings shall fall down before Him; all nations shall serve Him." "His name shall endure forever--all nations shall call Him blessed" (Ps. lxxii:1, 11, 17). "Also, I will make Him my Firstborn, higher than the Kings of the earth" (Ps.
lx.x.xix:27). "Behold, a King shall reign in righteousness" (Is. x.x.xii:1).
"Behold the days come, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth" (Jer. xxiii:5). "I saw in the night visions, and behold there came with the clouds of heaven one like a Son of Man--and there was given Him dominion and glory, and a Kingdom, that all peoples, nations and languages should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pa.s.s away, and His Kingdom which shall not be destroyed" (Dan. vii:13-14). "Behold the man, whose name is the Branch, and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. Even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both" (Zech. vi:12, 13). "And Jehovah shall be King over all the earth"
(Zech. xiii:9).
All these prophecies and many more speak of the Lord Jesus as King and bear witness of His Kingdom. The glories of His Kingdom are likewise described by the holy men of G.o.d, the mouthpieces of the Spirit of G.o.d.
Not Yet Fulfilled.
Were these predictions fulfilled since the Lord Jesus Christ suffered on the Cross? Have they been fulfilled since He entered the Father"s presence in Glory? Is He now exercising His kingly rule and authority?
Is the promised Kingdom of righteousness, of peace, of power and glory now on this earth?
These questions arise at once in reading these divine predictions. They must be answered in the negative. The Lord Jesus Christ has not even begun His work as King. The Kingdom promised unto Him, He has not yet received. There is now no such Kingdom of glory and power on earth.
The New Testament Evidence.
The New Testament furnishes the completest evidence that our Lord is not King over all the earth, and that His kingly rule is still in the future. The notion that the church is the Kingdom in which the Lord Jesus Christ rules as King, and that the Old Testament predictions of Kingdom glories are realized spiritually in the church, is a pure invention. Nowhere is the church called the Kingdom, nor do we find the Lord Jesus ever called "the King of the Church." He is the Head of the church, which is His body. The New Testament still looks forward to the Kingdom to come. The Lord has left the earth to receive a Kingdom and to return (Luke xix:11-28). He occupies the Father"s throne, which is not His permanent place, for He is to have His own throne. "When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory" (Matt. xxv:31). He waits in heaven for the time when all enemies will be made the footstool of His feet (Heb. x:13). "But now we see not yet all things put under Him"
(Heb. ii:8). No nation serves Him and the Kingdoms of this world are not His Kingdoms during this age. They will become His and heaven will resound with many voices saying: "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ and He shall reign forever and ever" (Rev. xi:15). But that is future. When the seventh angel sounds His trumpet, when heaven opens and He appears as King of kings, crowned with many crowns (Rev. xix:11-16), then He will receive the nations for His inheritance.
How Christ Begins His Future Work.
The beginning of Christ"s future work is revealed in 1 Thessalonians iv:15-18. This Scripture contains a great and unique revelation, unknown in the Old Testament. The Lord had made the promise to His disciples, "I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am ye may be also" (John xiv:3). He did not tell them in what manner He would keep this most precious promise. In the first Epistle to the Thessalonians the Lord gives the details of His coming for His own, and how He will fulfill the promise given to His disciples. He promises that He will descend from heaven with a shout. When He accomplished His work on the cross, He gave a shout, for he cried with a loud voice "Tetelestei"--"It is finished!" As the risen One, He met His beloved ones and said "All Hail!" The Greek gives only one word, "Chairete"--"Oh! the Joy!" This is His resurrection shout, the shout of joy and victory. And when He ascended He went up with a shout (Ps. xlvii:5). First Thessalonians iv:16 tells us He is going to descend with a shout. He pa.s.sed through the heavens in His glorious ascension and entered into the presence of G.o.d, His Father. Some day He will arise from the place He occupies on the Throne of G.o.d. He will leave the place on the right hand of the Majesty on high and pa.s.s out of the third heaven. Once more He pa.s.seth through the heavens, not upward but downward. He comes to call His Saints to meet Him. The meeting-place is not the Mount of Olives, Jerusalem or any earthly place; the meeting-place will be in the air. We repeat, this is a revelation, which is not found in the Old Testament prophetic Word, nor did the Lord announce it fully in His earthly ministry. According to the pa.s.sage containing this revelation, the shout of the Lord as He descends into the air will be followed by the resurrection of the dead in Christ. All the Saints of G.o.d will be raised physically from the graves. This includes the Old Testament and New Testament believers. When this shout is heard and the righteous dead are raised, all belonging to Christ and living in that day, will be caught up together with them in clouds to meet the Lord in the air. For the sake of some, we add, that all who have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour, who received eternal life and the Spirit of G.o.d, belong to Him and their blessed Hope and destiny is to be "caught up in clouds to meet the Lord in the air." Some teach that in order to share this rapture certain attainments are needed. Such, however, is not the case.
No service, suffering, separation or any works we do, could ever fit us for such a marvelous event. Grace has accomplished it for us. In 1 Cor.
xv:51 we read: "Behold I show you a mystery, we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, etc." The "all" means all that are Christ"s at His coming, independent of their knowledge about dispensational truths, independent of their waiting for Him, or any other thing. That they belong to Him and are redeemed by His precious blood is a sufficient t.i.tle to be caught up and to meet Him in the air.
Of this double company, saints who died and who will be raised from the dead, and saints who live and will be changed in a moment and caught up to meet Him, we find a hint in His words in John xi:25-26. "I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live (Resurrection). And whosoever liveth (when He comes) and believeth in Me shall never die (The changing of living believers).
Believest thou this?" May we answer Him, Yea, Lord, I believe. We may not understand all the details of this wonderful event, an event which will come suddenly, but we can believe His promise and wait daily for its glorious fulfillment. This is the blessed Hope of the Church. For this we are told to wait. Ere He begins His judgment work, before the last scenes of tribulation and wrath can be enacted upon this earth and He returns as the King of Glory to claim His blood-bought inheritance, He will come into the air to meet His redeemed host and co-heirs. This is the first event in connection with His future work.
The Judgment Seat of Christ.
All judgment is to be executed by the Lord Jesus Christ. "For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son" (John v:22). Up to the present time no judgment work has been done by Him. Nor have His people received their crowns and rewards for service and faithfulness. The meeting of the Saints in the presence of the Lord will be immediately followed by the judgment seat of Christ. "For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ" (Rom. xiv:10). "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad" (2 Cor. v:10). No unsaved person appears before this judgment for they were not raised from the dead, nor changed in the twinkling of an eye. This judgment concerns only believers. This judgment, however, does not decide their eternal salvation. That was settled when they believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. The words of our Lord in John v:24 make this clear. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is pa.s.sed from death unto life." "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ" (Rom. viii:1). The works and the service of His people will be dealt with by the Lord in this first judgment act in His future work. Of this we read in 1 Cor. iv:5--"Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the hidden counsels of the hearts; and then shall have every man praise of G.o.d."
Everything will be made manifest before that judgment seat. The unconfessed sins in the believer"s life will be brought to light and all hidden things will be uncovered. Then the works of the believer will be made manifest. "Every man"s work shall be made manifest; for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man"s work of what sort it is. If any man"s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man"s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire" (1 Cor. iii:13-15). It will be the time when G.o.d"s people will receive their rewards and crowns. Then the Apostles, the faithful martyrs, the self-sacrificing missionaries and servants of G.o.d will receive praise and reward for their labors. The judgment seat is the reward seat of Christ. In view of this the Apostle wrote to the faithful Thessalonians: "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? For ye are our glory and joy" (1 Thess. ii:19-20). And the Apostle John exhorts: "And now little children, abide in Him; that when He shall appear, we (the apostles and teachers) may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His Coming" (1 John ii:28). All believers in Christ are saved and have eternal life; but not all receive a reward.
Their works will be consumed by the fire of that judgment, for they were nothing but wood, hay and stubble. They will go rewardless, while the faithful saints, who toiled and served, who spent and were spent, following closely in His steps, will receive rewards. What these will be no Saint does know at this time.
When all is accomplished in connection with this judgment seat of Christ, He will lead His Saints into the Father"s house, that they may behold His glory (John xvii:24). He will present the church to Himself, "a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish" (Eph. v:27). He presents His church "faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy"
(Jude 24).
II.
His Future Work in Connection with the Earth.
When the Saints of G.o.d have left the earth and met the Lord in the air, when the events took place we have briefly outlined, then the Lord Jesus Christ will begin from heaven a work which will be severely felt on the earth. He begins to deal with the world in a series of judgments. From the Book of Revelation we learn that the "Lion of the tribe of Judah the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and loose the seven seals thereof." (Rev. v:5). The book He receives contains the judgments decreed for this earth with its apostate ma.s.ses. The Lamb is seen opening the seals of the book, and as He breaks the seals the events described under each seal happen. It is His work in judgment. In the eighth chapter of Revelation an Angel is seen before an altar with a golden censer. "And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth, and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings and an earthquake. And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound" (Rev. viii:5, 6). This Angel is the Lord Jesus Christ. He casts down the fire of divine displeasure and judgment upon the earth. The seven trumpeting angels with their judgments for the earth are sent forth by Him. Then come seven other angels, who pour out the bowls filled with the wrath of G.o.d. We cannot examine all those judgments separately. There is no human being who can realize what they all mean and what it will be when the Lord deals with this earth in righteousness.
Israel and the Nations.