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Welcome to this, yet another study in the book of Daniel. Throughout this series, we have been concentrating, to begin with, on the general moral and spiritual lessons to be learned from the experience of Daniel as recorded in his memoirs. But last week we started a particular topic. What can we learn from the book of Daniel about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ? We started, therefore, with the story in chapter two, Nebuchadnezzar's dream image, which, as you may remember, gives us a view, an overview of the succession of sundry political powers, beginning with Nebuchadnezzar, down to the time of the coming of Christ. It was formed of an image, the head of which was of gold, the chest of silver, the belly and thighs are of bronze, the legs of iron, the toes a mixture of iron and clay. It was a survey of a succession of imperial powers. Then in his image, Nebuchadnezzar saw a stone cut out without hands from a mountain nearby. The phrase cut out without hands, meaning by divine supernatural power. And that stone fell upon the feet of the image, and not only destroyed them, but simultaneously destroyed the whole image, and smashed it to smithereens, and the wind took the particles away. In his interpretation, Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar the king, thou art the head of gold, and God has given you dominion through your part of the world. But Nebuchadnezzar was advised that his particular political system would not last forever. It would be succeeded by another political system, and we know from history that that was the empire of the Medo-Persians. Nebuchadnezzar was an absolute monarch. Whom he would, he slew, and whom he would, he kept alive. There's a certain amount to be said for such a political system. It doesn't spend endless hours debating in parliament and slinging mud at each other. But it had to give way. And it gave way to the Medo-Persian Empire, which, while again it was no democracy, yet it began to modify the power of the emperor because of their concept that when a law was passed and signed by the emperor himself, then for the period to which it applied, even the emperor himself was subject to the law. The beginnings of a notion that the Greeks brought to greater perfection, their idea of democracy being equality under the law for all citizens, what the Greeks called esonomia. But that form of democracy that took root in Athens, and it very soon withered in its own day and generation, uh, did not immediately follow the Medo-Persian Empire in the east. The Medo-Persian Empire was followed by what we know to be the Greek Empire led by Alexander the Great. But now with that comes a very interesting development in history. Nebuchadnezzar's empire concerned the East, as we call it, Middle East in our terms. The Medo-Persians, under a certain Xerxes, tried to invade the west. They made an attack on Greece coming across the Hellespont, but miserably failed. When Alexander arose, he arose not in the east, but in the west, in Macedonia, as we know. He set about avenging the Greeks and attacked the Persians that had dared to attack his Greece. And by his lightning campaigns, he destroyed the Persian Empire, came down through Israel, conquered even Tyre, unheard of in the ancient world. Conquered Palestine, moved down into Egypt, got himself installed there and regarded as a god, then came back and moved down to India. And from the records, we learn that Alexander had the ambition to unite the nations of the world, both east and west. So that the empire that he created, it was a military dictatorship, of course, not a democracy, but it had this new feature, bringing together east and west. When we come to the fourth image represented by the iron in Nebuchadnezzar's dream image, it refers, of course, to Rome. And Rome continued this phenomenon instituted by Alexander, for Rome was even more west than Macedonia was, so to speak. And from being a humble in its beginnings, one little state in Italy, it not only conquered Italy, but a good deal of Europe and the East as well. Conquered Palestine, conquered Egypt, conquered Asia Minor, as we call it, and extended an empire right from the northernmost parts of Britain down to the south of the coast of Africa, the Mediterranean coast, all the way along the, the road down to Egypt. And a good deal of things further afield, some of Germany and so forth, France, Spain. It was huge in its day. Our question last week, you may remember, was... that whole image was destroyed by the stone cut out without hands, which, having destroyed the image, grew into a great mountain, and that was interpreted as being the formation of a kingdom that should rule over all and never be defeated. Our question then was, this obviously represents the kingdom of our Lord. When was that prophecy to be fulfilled? That it should fall upon the toes of the image and destroy it all and become the great kingdom of God. Rather than speculate upon it, we took the precaution last week of preparing ourselves by studying some of the straightforward statements of the New Testament, so that we could line up whatever interpretation of Daniel we come to, we could line it up against the actual statements of the New Testament. We notice, first of all, our Lord's unique interpretation of the Old Testament. The Old Testament had talked about the coming of Messiah, but the Old Testament nowhere specified that there would be two comings of the Messiah, what we now call first coming and second coming. It just talked of his coming. Perceptive minds might have been working hard on how you could reconcile some of these things if they all happened at the same time. For instance, Zechariah said that when the Messiah came, he would come riding on a donkey into Jerusalem. Daniel chapter seven said that when the s- the Son of Man came, he would come with the clouds of heaven. Difficult to suppose that they both happened exactly at the same time, would it not? You'll see. When we come to the new Testament record of our Lord's teaching, he taught quite plainly, we found, that there were to be two comings of the Messiah. His coming initiated at Bethlehem, his official coming to Jerusalem on a donkey, but then his death, resurrection, and ascension. And that interval, that until, should last until his second coming, when God would put his enemies under his feet. Two comings, therefore. We had to ask ourselves then whether this stone falling on the feet of the image was a something that happened when our Lord came the first time, or whether it is a something that's going to happen when he comes the second time. Now, our Lord himself indicated in his programmatic sermon at Nazareth, when he went to Nazareth and was given the role of the prophet Isaiah, unrolled it to chapter sixty one, the spirit of the Lord is upon me, he's anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. And he proceeded to quote Isaiah sixty one down to the passage, the the phrase, the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book and said, today this scripture is fulfilled in your ears. We then noticed that the next phrase was, and the day of vengeance of our God. And we felt the gratitude in our hearts that he didn't quote that phrase as well and say, today this scripture is fulfilled in your ears. For he was on record of saying more than once that he had not come to judge the world, not to call down fire from heaven, as his apostles would f- freely have done, had they the power. Not even to resist Calvary and his crucifixion. He had come, the Son of Man is come not to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. But having said that, and having interpreted Psalm one hundred and ten verse one to the effect that the Lord, God the Father, would say to his dear Son, sit at my right hand, that is his ascension, until, that is the intervening period, until I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet. That would be the program. He himself indicated that the falling of the stone on the image would be at his second coming. And we read from the Gospel of Luke, the end to the parable of the vineyard keepers. When our Lord said to the indignant crowd, this is Luke chapter twenty. he looked on them, verse seventeen, and said, what then is this that is written? The stone which the builders rejected, the same was made the head of the corner. He is referring to the fact that the builders, that is to say the leading authorities in the temple and in the Sanhedrin, rejected him as the Psalm had said they would. The stone which the builders rejected made the head of the corner. And Peter tells us in his letter and his first letter and second chapter, that that stone, elect of God and precious, has already been made the chief cornerstone of the spiritual temple that God is building. Then our Lord said, everyone who falls on this stone shall be broken to pieces. And Peter, in his second chapter again, uses the very same frame. To you which believe Christ is precious, but to those that disbelieve, what about them? They stumble at the rock of offense and are broken. That is true already, isn't it? They who reject our Lord, stumbling on the stone because it doesn't fit their scheme, will by their very stumbling, eventually perish. But then our Lord added a third thing. For in that verse eighteen, he says, everyone that falleth on that stone shall be broken in pieces, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will scatter him as dust. And we notice the future tenses. One thing for unregenerate people, having heard the gospel, to reject it even in this age, stumbling at the rock of offense. If that is not followed by repentance, it will spell disaster. That's one thing for people to stumble on the stone, for the stone to fall on them. That's another thing. And when will that happen? In the future, of course. At the second coming of Christ. So we deduced last week, thinking about the image and Daniel's interpretation of it. It fell, you notice, on the toes of the image. If the different elements in that image are in any sense historically consecutive, then the toes represent the last development, don't they? So the toes that were part of iron and part of clay. Now, sometimes biblical scholars have felt that when our Lord came the first time and was rejected, there was an interval, so to speak. And then at the end of the interval, before he comes a second time, then that Roman Empire will be revived. That is one view held by serious commentators. It seems to me not necessary to think in terms of an interval, because the Roman Empire did not cease to exist when our Lord was crucified, rose from the dead, and ascended to heaven, it carried on as it always had been. In fact, it carried on a very long while. The last Roman emperor to be crowned was in AD four hundred and seventy six. So it lasted four hundred years and more after the birth of Christ. And in the East, based on Constantinople, the Emperor Constantine had chosen as his second capital as distinct from Rome. In the East, the Roman Empire lasted until AD fourteen fifty three. Not all that long while ago, is it? Jose. It is a thing to be noticed about that image, that whereas it is represented as a succession of empires, yet of course, when the Babylonian Empire gave way to the Medo-Persians, the Medo-Persians took over a great deal of the territory of the Babylonian Empire, so that the Babylonian Empire lived on in a great deal of the Medo-Persian Empire. And when, of course, Alexander the Great took over the Medo-Persian Empire, he took over a large part of the territory that had been once upon a time the Medo-Persian territory. And when Rome came on the scene, it took over a great deal of Alexander's empire, not at all, but in great part it took over. And when finally it collapsed, what followed was, of course, largely the Roman Empire, but now split up among many different kings and kingdoms. The New Testament, in its use of the imagery of the beast and so forth in Revelation thirteen and seventeen, will suggest that one day there will become a uniting of what before was the scattered fragments of the original empire. But that, by the way, we're making the point that the stone falling on the image, sending it all away, and putting itself up and becoming a great empire. It's a reference, if we ask when will it happen, to the second coming of Christ. Now I want to do the same thing with the image this side, the image of the four beasts, and ask the same kind of question, what can it tell us about the second coming of Christ? And perhaps we ought to read to refresh our memories from Daniel chapter seven. Daniel has seen the succession of four beasts. And in verse fifteen we're told, and as for me, Daniel, my spirit was grieved in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. I came near unto one of them that stood by and asked him the truth concerning all this, so he told me and made me know the interpretation of the things. Now, this now becomes interesting. Let's go back to the vision itself. And in verse nine, after the description of the fourth great beast, Daniel says, I beheld till thrones were placed, and one that was ancient of days did sit. His raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool, and his throne was fiery flames, and the wheels thereof burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him. Thousand thousands ministered unto him, and tenth thousand times tenth thousand stood before him. The judgment was set, and the books were opened. I beheld at that time because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake. I beheld even till the beast was slain and his body destroyed, and he was given to be burned with fire. And as for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 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 pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. So here we meet our Lord again, surely, under this time the figure of the Son of Man, one like unto a Son of Man, and he comes with the clouds of heaven, and he comes to the throne of God Almighty and is given this great empire, this great kingdom that takes the place of these other kingdoms represented by the beasts. But now look at the special emphasis of this chapter. In verse eighteen, in response to Daniel's further inquiries about the meaning of the vision, he says in verse seventeen eighteen, these great beasts which are four are four kings which shall arise out of the earth, but the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever. Then in verse twenty two, I beheld in the same horn, one of the parts of the beast, made war with the saints and prevailed against them, until the ancient of days came and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. Then let's look at verse twenty five. This great beast shall speak words against the Most High and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and he shall think to change the times and the law, and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time. Now the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High. The kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. So now, as distinct from the vision given us in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, now we have not merely four successive kinds of empire, but they who take over and are given the kingdom are said to be, in the first place, one like unto a son of man. He receives the kingdom. But simultaneously, it is said that the kingdom is given to the saints. Now, I don't know how you classify yourself. But if for any reason you would claim to be a saint, then you have vested interest, have you not, in deciding the next big question that comes, when will this happen? When will it happen? For that again, I suggest we do what we did last week, and we look around in the New Testament to find what we may there on this very matter of the timing of it. You will remember, of course, that our Lord said, Matthew chapter twenty six and verse sixty four, Matthew twenty six verse sixty four, he said before his accusers at his trial. He said in answer to their question, verse sixty three, and the high priest said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. You may notice in passing that our Lord had been silent hitherto. Embarrassingly so for the high priest and the court. And therefore, being moved to extreme measures, the high priest put Christ on oath, I adjure thee. According to Leviticus chapter five, if a man was put on oath in a public court as to whether he had or had not seen something, if he didn't reply, he was guilty. That command demanded that in serious cases, such as would come to a law court, people must be prepared to stand with the truth and must speak it out. We're not allowed to keep silent. If you knew, you could keep silent until they put you on oath. If they put you on oath, in the name of God, you had to speak. And they put Christ on oath. I adjure thee by the living God that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. And in that solemn moment, Jesus said to them, thou hast said, nevertheless, I say unto you, henceforth you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power. That's his ascension, isn't it? You shall see the Son of Man seated, sitting at the right hand of power. That accords with Psalm one hundred and ten verse one once more, when God invited the Messiah, sit at my right hand. But now notice, not only sitting at the right hand of power, but coming on the clouds of heaven. And we notice that our Lord doesn't say, you shall see a son of man, but the son of man, presumably referring back to the prophecy in Daniel chapter seven. Son of Man coming with clouds. He came with clouds to the Ancient of Days, who then delivered to him the kingdom. Let us look now at Revelation chapter one. Just, uh, finding our way and building the solid grounds of our interpretations, building them on the New Testament. This is Revelation chapter one. As John pronounces the grace, he says in verse five, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth, unto him that loveth us and loosed us from our sins by his blood, and he made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto his God and Father, to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever, amen. Behold, he cometh with the clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they which pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over him. Even so. Amen. That seems to me to be unequivocal. This is a reference to his second coming, his coming with the clouds to receive from the Father the kingdom and to set it up here on earth. When exactly? Now I ask you in your patience to consider another passage from the Revelation that has been subject to many different interpretations. And the passage is Revelation nineteen um verse eleven following. And I saw the heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he that sat thereon called Faithful and True. And in righteousness he doth judge and make war. And his eyes are a flame of fire, and upon his head are many diadems, and he hath a name written which no one knoweth but he himself. And he is arrayed in a garment sprinkled with blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven followed him upon white horses clothed in fine linen, white and pure. And out of his mouth proceedeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron. And he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his garment and on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. Let's pause in our reading there and ask ourselves, what is this a description of? Some people, as they have thought upon his garments sprinkled with blood and how he trod the ro- winepress of the wrath of God. I thought this is a description of Calvary, where our Lord gave himself to bear our sins in his body and shed his life's blood and suffered the wrath of God that should have been ours. But this is an image taken from two places in the prophecy of Isaiah, concerning the outpouring of God's wrath on the rebellious and disobedient nations. And so it is here. He treads the winepress. He executes the wrath of God. He hath his garment, and on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. He comes to rule the nations with a rod of iron. That, my brothers and sisters, is not a description of the ministry of our blessed Lord when he walked our earth the first time. He didn't rule the nations with a rod of iron, like a vessel's pot to be shivered into pieces. Not then. But one day he will come. This is then his second coming. Let's read on, you'll see. Verse nineteen: and I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat upon the horse and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought the signs in his sight, wherewith he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. They twain were cast alive into the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone, and the rest were killed with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, even the sword which came forth out of his mouth, and all the birds were filled with their flesh. And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and cast him into the abyss and shut it up, and shut it and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more until the thousand years should be finished. And after this, he must be loosed for a little time. And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of them that had been headed for the testimony of Jesus and from the word of God, and such as worshiped not the beast, neither his image, and received not the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand, and they lived, and they reigned with Christ a thousand years. The rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years should be finished. This is the first resurrection. And I'm aware, my brothers and sisters, as I stand here, that this is a topic that causes great division of understanding amongst the people of God. So if you, uh, having heard what I say, hold the contrary view, I'd like to assure you that I love you still. And I regard you as a believer in Christ. It is a dastardly pity when people disagreeing over prophecy find it a matter on which ground to exclude people from Christian fellowship. We must all act humbly in the fear of God, must we not? But I will give you my reasons for believing that this is a description of the millennial reign of Christ at the end of this present age. You will notice that these thousand years had a before, and then they had an after. And before the rider on the white horse came out, the beast and his false prophet deceived the nations. How was their deception stopped? By the coming of the rider on the white horse to execute the wrath of God. And these deceivers were stopped by the drastic method that the beast and the false prophet were put direct into the lake of fire. Do you see? By this coming of the rider on the white horse. And Satan himself put in the abyss so that he shouldn't deceive anymore until the thousand years are fulfilled. Now, happily, we have straightforward explanation of these things or description of these things in the New Testament, so that we do not have to depend on the symbolic metaphors of the revelation. Let's look at two Thessalonians, shall we? And chapter two to start with. Chapter two and verse three: That day shall not come, except the falling away come first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. He that opposes and exalteth himself against all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God. Remember you not, when I was yet with you, I told you these things, and now you know that which restrains to the end that he may re- be revealed in his own season. For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work, only there is one that restrains now until he be taken out of the way. And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of his mouth and bring to naught by the manifestation of his coming. Even he, the one that's be d- shall be destroyed, whose coming is according to the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceit of, of, of unrighteousness for them that are perishing, because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God senteth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie, that they all might be judged, who believe not the truth, but have pleasure in unrighteousness. And from these straightforward words, we gather some facts. There will come at one stage in history, this one who is called the lawless one, claiming to be God, denying that there's a God out there at all. Demanding, as Revelation says, that you take his mark in your hand or forehead. He will come, be it noticed, and Revelation says the same thing, with all kinds of miracle that will seem to be supernatural. They will be signs, but they will be deceitful signs. Though many will believe them, you'll see. And in those days, the solemn words shall apply. God will send some people a strong delusion, that they believe that lie. Why would God do that? Well, the reason is given. He will send them the strong delusion that they believe the lie because they had refused the truth, because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. Now, to be accused of not receiving the love of the truth implies that you have heard the truth and have understood the truth, but wouldn't receive the love of the truth. If you won't have the truth, what is there left? The only thing that's left is the lie. God gave many miracles, didn't he, and signs, and John has recorded them, that we human beings might, hearing of them, believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and believing have life in his name. But if people won't have it, there will come a time when God will say to them, have it your own way. You won't have the truth. We'll have the lie then. In the solemn providences of God. That will be the deceiver. And we catch, don't we, the same emphasis as we read earlier in Revelation nineteen and twenty of the vast deception that will be perpetrated on humankind by the beast and his false prophet. How will he be destroyed? And when? Will it be by the going forth of the gospel truth? Or what? We're told in chapter one. Let us read it together. Chapter one of this same second epistle to the Thessalonians. Verse seven: and to you that are afflicted, rest with us at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power, in flaming fire, rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints and to be marveled at in all them that believed, because our testimony among you was believed in that day. Again, in chapter two and verse eight, then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of his mouth and bring to naught by the manifestation of his come. This then is what is going to happen at the second coming of our blessed Lord. And he who came meek and lowly, riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, coming to die for the sins of mankind, for our sins. It will come again. And that time in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. I think I've said enough to at least to show the foundations upon which my own interpretation is built. The figurative language of the revelation that talks about the millennial reign of Christ has a before and an after, and before it the Blessed Lord comes out on a horse with a sword to smite his opponents and to execute the wrath of God on them. And by that method, he stops their deception. They're cast into the lake of fire, or the Satan himself into the abyss, that they should not deceive the nations anymore. With that plain statement, we notice that the deception went on before the millennium, before the thousand years. And that the Lord came and executed his judgment before the thousand years began, and that stopped the deception. There was to be an after the thousand years, but we're thinking about what happened before. So here, in the plain straightforward language of Second Thessalonians, there is to be this man of sin, with all his lying wonders and deceitfulness. God allows it on a world that has rejected the truth of his dear Son. Then Christ will come in his visible coming and executing the wrath of God will particularly deal with the beast and his false prophet and the man of sin, and stop their deceiving and start the reign of Christ on earth. The Jews of our Lord's time were divided. Some held that there was be a reign of the Messiah before the end of the world. And others, they held that there was to be a reign of Christ after the end of the world. And the greedy had both. I'm among the greedy, ladies and gentlemen. I believe the Bible teaches both, but I too have a vested interest. In the vision of Revelation seven, we stressed it in our reading, didn't we? That, uh, when he comes with the clouds of heaven to the ancient of days, and the books are opened and judgment is given, and he's given authority to execute the wrath of God on this ungodly world, then not only is the beast destroyed, but the kingdom is given first to the Son of Man. But then in that, uh, chapter, three times over or more, it is given to the saints. Mm-hmm. That's why I told you to make sure you had got it clear in your heads whether you claim to be one of these saints or not. Because if you are, I have some astounding things to tell you. Do you see? Because look at this second epistle to the Thessalonians, and what does that say about the coming of our Lord Jesus? Let's read the verses again. Chapter one, verse four. uh So that we ourselves glory in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions which you endure, which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, to the end that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which also you suffer. If so be that it is a righteous thing with God to recompense affliction to them that afflict you, and to you that are afflicted, rest with us. When? At the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power, in flaming fire, rendering vengeance to them that know not God and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus, who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he shall come to be glorified in the saints, and to be marveled at in all them that believe, because our testimony unto you was believed in that day. To which end we also pray always for you, that our God may count you worthy of your calling and fulfill every desire of goodness and every work of faith with power, that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. These words are easily read and pronounced. Their significance? When he comes to be glorified in his saints, because they endured the suffering and showed themselves to be fit, worthy of the kingdom for which they suffered. He comes to be admired in them and glorified in them. So it is said here, as it was said, of course, in Daniel chapter seven. And I needn't remind you of the plain, explicit statements of the New Testament. We shall reign with him. The Holy Spirit witnesses that we are children of God. If children, then heirs, heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ. If so be that we suffer with him, that we may be glorified together with him. We shall reign with him. If we suffer with him. You will remember what our Lord said to the apostles in Luke chapter twelve, Fear not, little flock. It is the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. May I repeat the words of our Lord to your hearts as to mine. Fear not, little flock, whatever persecution or otherwise comes your way, it is the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. But then you will allow me, I think, to preach to you briefly a parable that our Lord Jesus gave. You see, when he got to the environ of Jerusalem. On his final visit to the city, this is Luke chapter nineteen and verse eleven. Luke nineteen verse eleven: and as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable because he was near to Jerusalem and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was immediately to appear. And of course, in the sense that they were thinking of the kingdom of God, it wasn't going to immediately appear. First he must suffer, be buried, rise again, ascend into heaven, and then come again. So he said unto them, a certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and then to return. Aptly chosen words, weren't they? In that sense of the outward kingdom on earth, the kingdom wasn't about to appear as he was now going up to Jerusalem. He would go away like the nobleman and receive the kingdom from the Father, as we saw in the Revelation, chapter seven. He would come again, and then he would call his servants to account. You know the story well. Do you see, he gave them ten pounds and said unto them, these ten servants, ten pounds, trade you, uh, therewith till I come. When he called them to account, one of them had traded with his pound and made a lot. Do you see? Thy pound has made ten pounds more, sixteen. He said, well done, thou good servant, because thou was found faithful in very little, have thou authority over ten cities. Hey, that gives me a bit of a pause. I know it's a parable, really, I haven't forgotten it's a parable, but let's take the parable. Man was given one pound. He worked diligently with it, and it scored ten. As a reward, he was given lifetime retirement in heaven. Was able to put his feet up forever and listen to music. Christian music, of course, but, uh, music, you see. No, I think not. He, having worked with his pounds so that it gained ten, he was given ten cities to look after. Well, my dear brother and sister, there's a lesson to be gained. If you don't like work, don't work for the Lord now, whatever you do. If you work for the Lord now and he blesses you with increase, wow, the work you'll have to do when you get home to heaven. There's that's just this, of course, we shall never grow tired up there. And it would be a serious thing not to have any work to do there. So they came and they'd use their pounds according to their abilities in different ways, until the last man came, you see. Another came saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, verse twenty, which I kept laid up in a napkin, for I feared thee because thou art an austere man. Thou takest up that thou layest not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow. So here it is. Why haven't you worked, says our Lord? Why haven't you used the pound I gave you? And like the others, gain more, uh, pounds and profit and increase your capital. Why haven't you worked, my good man? Now listen to the man replying. It's your fault, he says. It's your fault. You were such a hard man, always expecting something for nothing. That's the trouble with you. You want to reap where you didn't sow. You want to p- p- p- pluck up, pull up what you didn't go, uh, put down. And I feared you. So I, I, I hid your pound in the ground and didn't dare work. In case I wasn't successful, you see. I didn't want to be blamed. So I haven't lost anything. But why I haven't worked is because I, well, it's your fault, he says. What do you think of that man in that parable? Would you interpret him as a believer? No. Oh, there's one vote quickly given. Why wouldn't you consider him a believer? He doesn't know his Lord at all. He doesn't know the type of character our Lord has. How would a believer stand in front of Christ and says, it's your fault I haven't worked, because I knew you were such a hard man, always wanting something for nothing. But then, let's be merciful to him. Perhaps he was afraid that he might, if he invested the pound, he might lose up, and he would be blamed for it. Are there some believers that would be s- afraid to invest for Christ, lest they got it wrong? Well, we can all be fearful, but ought to get to know the Lord, who's given us the pound and is merciful and understands our weaknesses. We shall reign with him, if so be we suffer with him. The day is coming when Christ will receive the kingdom from the Father. He shall reign from shore to shore, and then, of course, there is his eternal kingdom in the world to come. What a wonderful thing, if when he comes, he shall be able to say, what did you do? My sister, my brother. And we shall be able to say, here is what you gave me. Here is what I was able, by your grace, to make of it. For then, having increased our capital, our basic ability, he will reward us with tasks big enough to use up all the capital of character and ability and faith that we have developed. So may God bless our study of his word. Shall we pray? Blessed Lord Jesus, we thank thee that thou dost not treat us as slaves, since a slave knows not what his lord does. Thou has treated us as friends, and we thank thee for telling us in thy word what the Father's plans are for the future, as much as we can understand and bear at this present moment. Lord, we thank thee for the honor that God shall yet give thee, universal honor, and every knee shall bow in thy name and confess that Jesus Christ is Jehovah to the glory of God the Father. We look forward to seeing thee thus honored and glorified according to thy merit. We are staggered by the generosity that ever conceived the idea that we shall not only be forgiven and are not only forgiven and possessed of the gift of eternal life, but shall reign with thee, whatever that shall mean, in the day to come.