Address—P. Glading
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The seven mainly. Just look at the Father's sevenfold blessings.
The first one we look at is in John 6.
Verse 38.
John, 638.
For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
And this is the Father's will which have sent me, that of all which He has given me I should lose nothing.
Much, and raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on Him may have everlasting life, And I will raise him up at the last day.
I'm sure none of us would dispute this truth. In verse 38, the blessed Lord says I came down from heaven. Well, we believe that we are sure that He did, and we wouldn't dispute it for a moment. But He tells us here that He did not come down to do His own will. He came to do the will of another, and He came to do the will of His Father.
And the question that might be raised, well, what is the will of his Father? Hell might allow this. Well, how precious to see that the Lord Jesus Christ has revealed to us what the Father's will is for us.
And that's a precious thing to know. He has not revealed this to the world, but he has revealed it to us and we can thank him for it. Now verse 40. And this the Lord says is the will of him that sent me. Now we know what the fathers will is that every one which seeth the sun.
And believe upon him may have everlasting life. And I will raise him up again at the last day. Now we know what the Father's will is. Yes, but what is it? Well, the Father's will is that you and I should be saved. How precious this is. Surely this would remind us of the Father's heart of love. He willeth not the death of a Sinner, and it is his desire that we should be saved.
Yes, but how? We saved, he says.
That everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on Him may have everlasting life. Well have we all seen the sun, not the midday sun. The Son of God by faith, hanging upon the cross for our sins, have we all seen Him with the eye of faith.
Have we all received Him as our Lord and Savior? Well, as the Father's will hear that we should be saved.
And to me, that's exceedingly precious. And so we have it expressed here. It's not his will that any should perish, or what a heart of loving has for us, hasn't he? And we read in the I think it's Matthew.
Believe it's 18. You might just look at it.
Matthew 18.
Cross 14 Even so, it is not the will of your Father, which is of heaven, but one of these little ones should perish.
Now it's his desire that all should be saved, but there is nothing to suggest in the word of God that everyone will be saved. They may be at the wish and but you see often the will comes in the way. They will not come to Him. The Lord said that when He was here He will not come to me that you might have liked. But if we come to Him in simple faith, there is the gift of eternal life waiting for us. And that's why the Lord says in Isaiah 45.
22 Look unto me and be saved. How simple it is. That precious little monosyllable look implies that the salvation I need is found in the one to whom I look. It's there already for me, and one looks, secures it. And so the Lord says, Look unto me and what? And be saved. How blessedly simple. And now we have in our chapter.
The will of the Father is that we should be saved. Well, I believe I'm addressing save people tonight gathered to the Lord's name about should there be one here?
Well, how is it with you? It's the Father's will that you should, you should be saved, and is not his will that you should perish. And so we have here the knowledge of the Father's will. That's very precious. Now he turned to John 1028.
These are very well known scriptures, I'm sure, but I think they're so important today because of the uncertainty of many so-called Christians.
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John, 1028.
And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave to me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one.
Now in the first scripture we read, we read them what the Father's will is. The Father's will is our salvation. That's his will, that we should be saved. Now we find after we are saved, we're in the Father's hand, a place of eternal security. Beloved Saints of God, what more could we have than this? You and I as believers are in the hand of Christ, and we're in the Father's hand. The Lord says, here I give unto them eternal life.
And they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. And then he goes on to say, My father which came to me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand. I am my father one. Well, how precious these words are. A member of dear sister in England. She was just about to pass into the presence of the Lord.
And her dear husband sat by her bedside, and I believe her last words were these.
She turned to her husband with a very weak voice. She said, Albert, this Scripture is so precious to me now. And she quoted it very faintly. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. And she soon slipped into the presence of the Lord.
Oh, how sweet and precious this is. This was a blessed reality to that dear sister about to leave this scene. She was resting upon this. She had already received Christ as her Savior. Now she had the assurance from God's Word that she was in the Father's hand and in the hand of the beloved Son. How could she perish? And so these words are very precious, aren't they? And this is a position of every true believer in the Lord.
And in the Father's hand. Now you've all heard of Brother Willis, of course, in China, while I had the privilege of being with him for four years there. And I remember on one occasion we had some naval Manian for the gospel meeting. And in China, of course, I had picture posters to illustrate gospel subjects. And dear Brother Willis produced a big picture of a big hand and a man inside the hand. The.
Clasped round this man and on every finger and on the farm with cords attached and dozens of Chinese men pulling as hard as they could pull to try and release that man so he'd fall out and they couldn't. And there's a naval officer there. And he said, well, if that speaks of the security of the Christian, I want to be a Christian. I want to be there. If that speaks of certainty and eternal security, I want to have it.
And through that simple illustration, he was saved. And how precious it is to know that we are in the hand of the Father who can touch us, who can pull us out. No one. Or the peace it brings to the heart and soul to know that we are now as believers in His hand, and we're there for all eternity. No one can ever pull us out. And so it's very sweet to know this. They shall never perish.
Never perish. And the Lord says my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. Yes, it's his sheep he's Speaking of here. His sheep. They have eternal life and they will never perish. They'll never be ****** out of Christ hand. You know Jacob was a shepherd, was he not? Read of him in Genesis? He was a shepherd and a Good Shepherd too, but he had to admit that in spite of all his unceasing vigilance.
He said in last time, But when we turn to John 17, the blessed Lord, the Good Shepherd could say, Those whom thou hast given me, I have lost none. Oh, how sweet that is. The Good Shepherd can never lose a sheep. Never.
And it is precious to read such assurances as these. Well, now you turn to the 17th of John. Well, before we turn to that, however, I think we should turn to the 14th of Matthew. Because, you know, today there are those who say, if you do not hold on to Christ, you'll be lost. I suppose you've heard that statement. Well, is that a true statement?
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No, it is not. There's no such suggestion in the Word of God.
That you and I have got to hold on to Christ. I could not do that for a day about people say if you do not hold on after your sage, you'll be lost. Well, just read a few verses in the 14th of Matthew and we'll see if this is true according to scripture.
The 14th chapter of Matthew. We'll have to read a few verses to get the connection.
Verse 23 Well, 22 And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship and to go before him unto the other side. That's where we bound for, isn't it? We're bound for the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up into a mountain of heart to pray. And is He not up there now? Not on the mountain, but He's in the glory, and He's interceding for.
How precious this is. And when the evening was calm, he was there alone.
But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tasked with wave, for the wind was contrary. And in the 4th watch of the night Jesus went under them walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea without trouble, saying it is a spirit, and they cried out for fear.
But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, And be of good cheer. By the way, we have this expression three times in the Gospels. Be of good cheetah. The first occasion is the good cheer of pound. The Lord had forgiven the person's sins. He said, Be of good She, and thy sins are forgiven thee. Here we have the good she had mentioned near the good cheer of His presence. He says, Be of good cheer. Desire be not afraid.
And in John we have the good cheer of his power.
They have good shear. I have overcome the world.
That's just by the way it is. I be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou.
Bid me come under the underwater. How personal this is. Bid me, he didn't say, Bid us come to thee, Bid me come unto thee, and that's very personal and beautiful. Bid me come unto the underwater. And he said, come, That's all the Lord said to Peter. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid and beginning to sing. He cried, saying.
Save me now. Notice the next verse.
And immediately Peter stretched forward his hand. No, And immediately Jesus stretched for his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, All thou of little faith, wherefore did thou doubt? Now did Peters safety depend upon Peters holding on to the Lord? The Lord bid him to come out of the ship to walk on the water, to go to him. And the first few steps were in faith, and everything was all right.
But then it says he saw the wind boisterous, he was looking at the elements and not Christ. And it says he, beginning to sink, cried, Our Lord saving well, didn't feed him without his hand and hold on to the Lord. Indeed not what happened. Now the Lord put out his hand and held Peter. That's the point, isn't it? You and I are being held in the precious Saviour's hand and in the Father's hand.
Our security beloved does not depend upon our holding on with him. We couldn't do it.
But you find here that the Lord, it says immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand and held Peter. Did Peter sink then? Indeed not. What happened?
Well, it says in the next verse. And when they would come into the ship, the wind ceased. To me, beloved, that's a beautiful picture of the Lord holding you and me all the journey through until we're safe in the ship.
Yes, you and I are going into the ship, you know, in the Father's house, I may put it that way. And so the blessed Lord took Peter back to the ship, a place of safety. He didn't let him drown. He didn't let him go. Peter did not have to hold on to the Lord. The Lord held Peter, and that's what he's doing for you and me. And to me that's very precious. And I not only went into the ship, but what was their occupation?
Then they that were in the ship came and worship him all to me. That's a beautiful picture.
Of the Lord, holding the believer in His hand until he takes him home to glory. Then our occupation will be to worship Him. Yes, that will be our occupation. It's our privilege even now to praise and worship that blessed One who has loved us even unto death. But for love of the time is fast approaching when we will be delivered from the scene. We'll be in His very presence and free and able to worship Him as He is worthy.
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And so we can look forward to that moment and that will be our eternal occupation Will not be occupied with one another there, the Occupy the Christ, He'll be the center of the throng and the center of attraction and the center of our praise and worship and adoration. But what a sweet picture this is Jesus holding for sinking Peter. Yes, sometimes perhaps we feel like sinking, but He'll never let us go.
How precious to know they were in that powerful hand.
In the hand of Christ and in the hand of the Father. And he is soon going to take us into the Father's house, the ship, and our occupation will be to worship Him, to adore the grace that saved us and that blessed One Himself. And now he turned the 17th of John.
And verse 8.
For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received them, and have known surely that I came after thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. Now, verse 14 I have given them thy word, and the world have hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not in the world.
Now we have the love of the Father's word as our assures the first scripture we read we have the Father's will is our salvation.
The next one we have the Father's hand is our security. Now we have the Father's word as our assured. What greater authority could we have than this? What greater security could we have than the Father's word? The Lord says I'm giving them thy word. Here is something solid to rest upon.
We often hear different foundations being built. I remember a big building was going up in Shanghai, China, and the architect had got out his blueprints and drawings and they started the building.
By the fifth story and the whole thing collapsed and sunk in the mud and the poor architect committed suicide. Yes, there was no solid foundation for the building to rest upon. Shanghai is built upon the mud flats and this building just began to sink and collapse. He committed suicide. But all you and I, beloved, we have a solid foundation to rest upon, not given to us by the world. No, the world cannot give us solid foundation.
Their only foundation is their own word, which changes day by day.
But we have the Father's word. We read in Titus that God that cannot lie. Think of that. We read of others in that same chapter in Titus. Accretions are always lives. But it says in contrast, God who cannot lie. And so we have the Father's word to rest upon. What a solid ground we have, have we not?
Nothing can alter it. Nothing can shake that foundation why God's Word is forever settled in heaven.
Remember a naval officer telling me to burn all the Bibles? He said. What good are they?
Well, if we collected all the Bibles and burned them, would it destroy God's word? Would it change the truth of it? Indeed not. What foolishness, He said. I'm educated. I don't want that stuff. Why don't you burn your Bibles? Well, we had to remind this naval officer and what we have in John 1248, the Lord says he that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words.
Hath one that judgeth him the word that I have spoken.
The same genre, judgment, the last day, two baddies is too bad and it will be too bad for that man. Yes, he was educated. He was educated for hell. He didn't want the Bible. He didn't want the word of God. He didn't want Christ. He was going his own way. What a sad end he will come to if he pursued that course, if he continues in that path. But how precious an hour here we have. The Father's words are assured.
Oh how sweet. This is a solid foundation. Nothing can shake it.
Nothing can change all the powers of Hell and Earth cannot shake that foundation or destroy it. And so how thankful we should be tonight when everything beloved around this is going to pieces, is it not? Is there anything stable in this world? Nothing. Whatever. It's all going to pieces. Everything is stamped with death and uncertainty, but in the face of it all, we have a solid foundation to rest upon.
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The finished work of Christ.
And the eternal Word of God. And so here we have the Father's Word.
As our assurance, now we turn the 14th chapter of John, the 14th chapter.
And verse 21.
He I have my commandments and giveth them. Here is that love of me, and he that loveth me shall be loved of my father, and I will love him him, and will manifest myself to him.
Now there's once an old sister living alone, quite old she was. The brother went to visit her and she complained that she is feeling so very lonely. He said, well sister, do you love the Lord Jesus? Indeed I do. She said, Well, he read this first to her. He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, He it is that loveth me, and he or she that loveth me shall be loved of my Father.
And I will love him or her, and will manifest myself to him or her.
Only said, Sister, do you not see you have a lover here to walk with you, the Lord Jesus Christ? He says, If you love me, I will love you and I'll be with you. And so there's a cheer to our heart when he read the 23rd verse to her. And this goes further still. Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man loved me, he will heed my words now, and my Father will love him.
And we, not I, we will come.
Under him and they are abode with him only said sister and I have two lovers for your companions, 2 lovers, the father and the son. Well, she said, I haven't seen that before. I certainly shouldn't feel lonely, should I? And discouraged. And it is so, isn't it? To think that you and I have these two companions with us, the father and son. How precious.
And now here we have then the Father, the Father's presence, our comfort and joy after we're seeing.
We have the Father's will from salvation, the Father's hand from our security, the Father's word for our assurance, the Father's presence for our comfort and joy. Now we'll turn to the the 15th chapter.
Verse 9.
As the Father that loved me, so have I loved you. Continue ye in my love.
Now we have the love of Christ made known to us, He says, As the Father hath loved me, can we?
Measure the depths of the Father's love for his beloved Son. Impossible. And yet note what the Lord says. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. Continue ye in my love. Be occupied with my love to you. We cannot be occupied with our love for Christ, how poor it is, how frail it is, but we can be occupied with Christ's love for us. And so he says, as the Father have lovely.
I love you. Isn't that quite just to know that we love so dearly by the Lord Jesus Christ? Now we look at the 16th chapter and see how much the Father loves us.
Verse 27. Fifteenth chapter.
For a father himself loveth you because you have loved me. For now, how much does a father love you? How much does he love me? Turn the 17th Chaplain. There we find it.
We know exactly now how much the Father loves us.
23I and them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and has loved them as thou hast loved me. Now we know how much the Father loves us. We know how much the Son loves us as much as the Father loves him. Now the Lord tells us, He says, that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and has loved them as thou.
Love me? Isn't that wonderful, beloved, to realize that you and I are loved by the Father as much as he loves his son. Well, it's, it's really hard to take in, isn't it? But it's true. And so then we have the farmers. Love as our resource. The farmers will as our salvation. The Father's hand is our security. The Father's word is our assurance, the Father's presence, our comfort and joy for the pathway.
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Now we have the Father's love for our resource.
And watery salt we can draw upon that love day by day. And that love, remember, is going to last return. Human love fails, Indeed it does very often. And we are disappointed perhaps in one another because the love fails. But not so here. All this love is an eternal love. And the thing beloved, the Lord loves you as much as the Father loves him. The Father loves you as much as he loves his Son. It's.
Too much to take in, but it's true. And He wants us to rejoice in the fact. And so we get here. The Lord says, continue ye in my love, not in yours in my love. And then in Jude's epistle we read that heat yourselves in the love of God, be occupied with his love too. And if we're occupied with the love of Christ, it tells us in Ephesians 3.
And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge.
Think about the love of Christ passes knowledge and in the 5th chapter of Ephesians we read that Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. What more could give? Nothing. And so then we have the love of Christ made known and the love of the Father. Now you turn the 2nd Corinthians first chapter.
The third verse of the first chapter of the 2nd Epistle to the Corinthians.
Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God has always been the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, but the Lover? He's now our Father too. How sweet to know that. Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.
Now in him a God whose seeks to comfort our hearts, we have a Father of mercy. Have you ever tried to count the mercies of one day alone? The mercies you and I receive from the Father's heart and hand that they could we count them well. How precious to know that we have now a Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.
We often find when a loved one is taken from us, perhaps the neighbors come around and say, well, you have my sympathy. Well, it's all right as far as it goes, but how frail it is, how small it is in comparison to this precious Scripture, The Father of mercies, the God of all comfort, says, who comforteth us in all our tribulation.
That we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
Now we have the Father's mercies and the God of all comfort for the pathway for every step of the way. The Father of mercies, it's of his mercy were not consumed. His compassions failed up and knew every morning we read so much about the mercy of God.
And that's just what we needed when we were in our sins, and we need it still. So we have the the Father of mercies from the God of all comfort for every step of the journey. Now go back to the 14th chapter of John.
Another well known chapter, Let not your heart be troubled. Isn't it wonderful to notice that in the previous chapter the blessed Lord said that he was troubled in spirit. Now he turns to his dear disciples. He's about to leave and He says, let not your heart be traveled.
Ah, that blessed on one was travel. He was traveled in spirit, and yet he says where his disciples, let not your heart be troubled. He was about to go to Calvary, and yet he just speaks out precious words of comfort to his own.
We believe in God, believe also in me, in my father's Harrison many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you.
I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also. Now here we have the final. Now we have the Father's house as our home. All beloved, how sweet and precious to know that soon we shall enter the Father's house with our precious Savior. And it could take place tonight.
Are we all ready for that moment? Yes, we long for that moment, do we not? Can we not say, beloved, with truth and Thanksgiving from our hearts?
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Even though come, Lord Jesus, come, Lord Jesus, come and take thy waiting people home. That's what we're waiting for, the Lord to come. We're not waiting for a better time here because we'll never get it.
Even so-called Christians are trying to improve conditions here. But beloved, this is a sinking ship. This world is soon to come under the judgment of God.
Why at the first of I came round your home and condemned it and he said this is unfit for have a patient you better get out before it collapses. And soon as he's gone, you go and buy some paint and start decorating it. Well, that would be the height of foolishness, wouldn't it? That's just what many so-called Christians are doing today.
Trying to improve this world, make it a better place to live in, but without its condemned. It's condemned not by the Boris of air. It's condemned by God and soon to come under God's judgment. And so how thankful we should be that we do not belong here. The blessed Lord can say they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. And he says, and ye are not in the flesh.
Two precious truths to get hold of. Sometimes we hear people say for an excuse for failure. Well, we still in the flesh, you know. But that's not true, beloved. We're not in the flesh.
Romans 8 tells us though we're in Christ, that's opposition. We're not in the flesh. The flesh is in me to screw, but I'm not in the flesh. I'm in Christ, accepted in the beloved. How precious to realize then the flesh is in US, and will be until lemon comes. But our position is in Christ, not in the flesh.
Well, here then, we have the final. How precious it is. First of all, we have the Father's will is our salvation.
The father's hand on security, the father's word are assured, the father's presence are comfort and joy.
The Father's love is our resource, the Father's mercies and comfort for the pathway. And now we have the Father's house for our home. And beloved, how soon may we be there? Could be there tonight. How sweet and precious isn't it, to realize that any moment the Lord may come to take his waiting, longing people home. Oh, do we not long to be there.
Well, I'm sure we do from our hearts, because what is there here to hold us? Nothing but sin, sorrow, disappointment, death and tears.
But the time is coming when God is going to wipe away all tears from their eyes. There'll be no more thickness, no more pain, no more crying, and no more death. What a moment to anticipate. That's the turnless state when we get home. We know tears there, beloved. No trials there. We get them today, but they'll soon be passed. Yes, we are looking the other night at John 16, where it tells us there seven times in four verses.
Little White, It's all of this. A little while. Oh, our heart should be encouraged, shouldn't they? When we realize that we're actually on our way home? Yes. Every step we take is one near a home. The Father's house. That's the final. Lord says if I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again. I will. Do you think you'll change his word? Do you think you'll disappoint us? Never. Never. He.
For that moment, far more than we are. Why? To have all His redeemed around himself and the glory forever that He will see the travel of His soul and be satisfied. And surely, beloved, you and I'll be satisfied too, when we get home to glory, when we see our precious Savior face to face and our forever with Him in that bright scene above.
Well, what a relief it will be to leave the scene, will it not? Yes.
We have the trials and difficulties here, the clouds and the partings, but there will be none of that. There will be absolutely perfect. Who's made it so? The blessed Lord Himself. The ground of all our blessing is Calvary. The Lord Jesus went to the cross and gave his life's blood Redeemer to bring us to God and to bring us into a place of eternal relationship and eternal blessing.
And thorough. Let us try and remember these few precious thoughts, these seven things. And the final is the Father's house is our home. How sweet and precious. And we may be there sooner than we realize. Yes, the Lord could come at any moment now and give a shout, and every believer would respond. We were speaking last night of the great supper provided.
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And those who made excuses and would not respond to the invitation and did not come.
But beloved, the moment that shout takes place, you and I will hear it and respond to it and leave this poor old world behind forever. Water relief, What a joy. Well, it should produce eternal praise and Thanksgiving to my heart, so that Blessed One for alone is made as possible.