I thank you for your kind invitation to be with you tonight at the Sovereign Grace Advent Testimony. I thank our brother for leading the service and for his kind words of welcome. It's a privilege for me to be here. It's also a privilege to have my wife. You don't always get to bring your wife when you go away because of home responsibilities, but she's here tonight and we're glad she's able to accompany us. And just maybe at the end, once we are through with speaking to you on the subject that has been given, I want to mention something wonderful that has been happening in the last great kingdom of the Hindus, and that is the land of Nepal. And maybe you'll know that 80% of the country is Hindu, 10% is Buddhists. and looking up the internet they say there's 4.4% Muslims and 3% Christians and that's Christians of all shades and fashions. But God has been moving and he's been moving in a marvellous way and at least in that little part that we have shared in we can tell you something about that at the end of the service tonight. Please turn with me to the 20th chapter of the book of Revelation We thank our brother Paul for reading this chapter with us tonight, and we trust as we meditate a little time in it this evening that the Lord's blessing will be upon us. We'll bow together in prayer. Our gracious God, we still our hearts again in thy presence. We thank thee that we can draw near to thee in the all-precious and prevailing name of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. We bless thee tonight for the one who loved us and gave himself for us. And we thank Thee that through the merit of His blood, we have the joy and the privilege to approach unto God Most High. We thank Thee for the throne of heavenly grace and mercy. And we thank Thee that through the precious blood, we have the privilege of coming before God. And we seek Thee again in the word. This chapter that has been read, we thank Thee for it, for the truths that are expounded here, and as we look at it tonight, We pray that the Saviour himself will draw near and that he will go with us in the message, that he will bless us in his word and that his word will be an encouragement and a comfort to us. We thank thee for that which we shall partake in one day when Jesus comes again. We thank thee for the reality of the Lord's coming. and we thank thee that we shall rise to meet him when he comes in the glory. We pray that thou wilt excite our hearts about these things and help us, Lord, to look forward to, with glad anticipation, that day when Jesus will come in power and glory. We pray that thou wilt settle our hearts and minds down before thee now and grant us divine enablement the presence of the Lord, the infilling of the Spirit in Jesus' precious name. Amen. In these months, and Mr. Toms has already alluded to it, the overall subject is the purpose of our Lord's coming. And that will be expounded by the various speakers that will come to take part at the Sovereign Grace Advent testimony meetings. The first subject is the first resurrection that has been allocated to me and then as the year proceeds the Millennial Church, the destruction of Antichrist, the conversion and restoration of Israel, the Millennial reign of Christ, the final judgement of the Great White Throne and the New Heaven and the New Earth. So there is no doubt that the 20th chapter of the book of Revelation will be opened again in subsequent nights. As John is brought in vision to behold those things that are yet to be, he sees an angel come down from heaven and he has the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And what follows is recorded in some detail by the inspired hand of the beloved disciple in Revelation chapter 20. We learn the following things. First of all, Satan is bound for one thousand years. And the location of this binding is asserted for it's in the bottomless pit. A place that is obviously identified as being outside this present world. It is associated with smoke and a great furnace in Revelation chapter 9. The phrase is mentioned just seven times in the New Testament and all in this final book. The term bottomless pit is one word in the Greek and literally means the abyss. Which means bottomless, unbounded or the immeasurable depth. It may be associated with the Greek word Tartarus. This word is translated hell and is used only once in the scripture in 2 Peter chapter 2 and verse 4 and it refers to the place where angels who sin are reserved in chains for judgment. Now I mention this just to emphasize the point that during this time, the thousand years referred to, Satan is bound and he's bound not on the earth He's not merely restrained or inhibited in his authority and power, but he is confined to the place that is called the abyss. The bottomless pit. We also learn from the chapter that Satan is unable to deceive the nations during this period of time. Verse 3 indicates that to be so. We look out into the nations of the earth in this present time and certainly such words could not be written over the activity of the devil. There is no doubt that he is still the roaring lion walking about seeking whom he may devour. He is still that wicked one sowing tears in the spiritual harvest fields of the world. The nations are deceived. And the world around us is lying in wickedness. Conditions morally and spiritually are waxing worse and worse. However, during the thousand years, Satan deceives the nations no more. Not until the thousand years should be fulfilled. We learn also in the chapter there are saints, blessed indeed, who live and reign with Christ during the thousand years, that time that we know as being the millennial reign. And we have that there at the end of verse 4. And that indeed will be a wonderful period of peace and joy and blessing when Christ will be King over all the earth. And Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited in an age when the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. And the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. How different things will be when the king sits upon his throne and the saints will reign with him in that millennial kingdom. We learn in the fourth place that something wonderful happens at the beginning of this thousand year period called here by the apostle the first resurrection and we're going to come back to that presently. And then we learn that something dreadful occurs at the close of the thousand years. Look there at verse 7 and verse 8, when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. Verse 3 has already indicated or informed us that after the thousand years, Satan must be loosed for a little season. It's only for a little season. In that short time allocated to him, he returns to his old work. in deceiving the nations, deceiving all those who have remained in their sin without faith and without a true knowledge of God. These nations are deceived and they are called together for battle. Their numbers are great for they are described as being as the sand of the sea. and they encompass the camp of the saints as they march upon the beloved city of Jerusalem. But their rebellion is short-lived and comes to nothing for God Almighty sends fire out of heaven and devours them. We learn in verse 10 in the sixth place concerning the final overthrow and the destruction of Satan. The devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. And then seventhly we learn of the last judgment when the great white throne is set up and the rest of the dead live again. Only this time they're called to eternal judgment. The sea delivers up its dead. Death and hell or Hades give up their dead. And it tells us they were judged every man according to their works. I'm glad tonight that I will not be judged according to my works. For all of them, even the best ones, would rise up to condemn me, and condemn me everlastingly. No, I have been judged in Christ, and His righteousness has been imputed to me, and my sin has been imputed to Him. And so will I stand before the judgment seat on that great day when the saints will gather I shall be found clothed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne." You'll notice that all who stand at the great white throne of judgment are judged according to their works and they are cast into the lake of fire which is the second death. We come this evening to ponder a marvellous subject, one that every redeemed soul will have a part in, the first resurrection. Now I confess when it comes to the subject of eschatology that there are men that are far more able than I to expound the wonders and the mysteries of prophecy than I and they can with marvellous insight explain in certain terms the events that are yet to be. However, I do not shy away from the task that is assigned to me when I come to speak at the SGAT and take up a subject of a prophetic nature. We thank God for the insight that he has given to us in his precious word concerning the things that are yet to be. The signs of the times are rising to a climax We observe the great apostasy of this modern day, the spirit of Antichrist is rising more and more and soon he himself will be revealed, the man of sin and the son of perdition, the salvation of Israel, the day of our Lord's coming and all that follows in the resurrection of the just, the reign of Christ on earth and the glories experienced during those days. are all subjects that enthrall the mind and stimulate the imagination. And I'm glad that I'm here this evening to discuss with you for a little time the first resurrection. When C.H. Spurgeon came to preach on this subject he said, I have chosen this topic because I believe it has practical bearings and may be made useful, instructive and rising to us all. I find that the most earnest of the Puritanic preachers did not forbear to dwell upon this mysterious subject. I turn to Carnac, and in his disquisition upon the immutability of God, he does not hesitate to speak of the conflagration of the world, of the millennial reign and the new heavens and new earth. I turn to Richard Baxter, A man who above all other men loved the souls of men, who more perhaps than any man, with the exception of the Apostle Paul, prevailed in birth for souls. And I find him making a barbed arrow out of the doctrine of the coming of the Lord and thrusting this great truth into the very heart and conscience of unbelievers as though it were heaven's own sword. And John Bunyan too. plain honest John. He who preached so simply that a child could comprehend him and was certainly never guilty of having written upon his forehead the word mystery. He too speaks of the advent of Christ and of the glories which shall follow and uses this doctrine as a stimulus to the saints and a warning to the ungodly. I do not think therefore I need to tremble very much if the charge should be brought against me of bringing before you an unprofitable subject. It shall profit if God shall bless the worth. And if it be God's Word, we may expect His blessing if we preach it all, but He will withdraw it if we refrain from teaching any part of His precious counsel, because in our pretended wisdom we fancy that it would not have practical effect. So I am in very good company tonight, and I am blessed to have the Word of God before me, and you will profit And you will know God's blessing if it pleases him to apply the truths that are contained in this passage of scripture to your heart. We now look at the first resurrection so called by the inspired scriptures in this twentieth chapter of Christ's revelation. And there's just three things that I want you to notice tonight about what the Bible teaches. First of all the Bible teaches the resurrection of all men. It's good to assert the absolute confidence and belief that we have in the future resurrection of all men. Millions of people through the world in all nations in all centuries from the beginning of days have died. And they will die, until the conclusion of all things upon this earth. It is appointed unto men once to die. As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, wherefore death is passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. This is one great matter that the sons of Adam have not been able to avoid in the annals of history and with the passage of time. We can all say with the wise woman of Tekoa, for we must needs die. And all is water spilt on the ground which cannot be gathered up again, neither doth God respect any persons. The peoples of this world and all religious creeds of every kind with few exceptions declare the reality and the inescapability of death. They will agree with the inspired record, death passed upon all men. The controversy arises when we come to consider what after death. The Church of God teaches soul sleep. That the body and the soul sleep together in the grave until the resurrection day. And so there's no present existence anywhere for anyone. And this view is held by the Seventh-day Adventist group and Herbert Armstrong propagated this doctrine. The Jehovah's Witnesses they affirm annihilation for those who were not part of their religious movement and wholly deny the existence of a literal hell. Of course in Bible times there were doctrinal heresies. The Sadducees, though men of academic ability and position, denied a future existence, asserting that the soul died with the body, and they repudiated the resurrection altogether. As Bible-believing Christians, we must have proper views of the future, including what happens after death, and what God teaches us about the resurrection. It may seem elementary, but nonetheless important to declare in these days of departure and cultism what we believe happens at the moment of death. At that precise moment when the soul departs from its earthly tabernacle, the body, we believe that the Christian at death goes to be with the Lord, which is far better. Stephen, the first Christian martyr standing before at the Sanhedrin said, Behold I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. These words infuriated the Jews so much that they dragged him out of the city and they stoned him to death and here's the record. that is given in Acts chapter 7 and verse 59. They stoned Stephen, calling upon God and saying, Lord Jesus receive my spirit. He expected at the point of death that his soul would be received by Christ. Not to go to the grave, not to sleep until the resurrection. He expected to go immediately to be with Christ. Paul writing to the Corinthians in 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 8 stated we are confident and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Paul believed at the point of death he would be with the Lord. Jesus on the cross gave assurance to the penitent thief today shalt thou be with me in paradise. And the dying thief had that certainty, at the point of death, he indeed would be with the Lord. During the Saviour's ministry, he told of how there was joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. He didn't tell us that the angels rejoice, and I'm sure they do, but there's joy in their presence. Who is in the presence of the angels of God and glory? The saints. that have gone to be with the Lord. I believe it is the saints that are rejoicing when one sinner turns and seeks the Lord in repentance. In the story of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus spoke of the beggar's death and how he was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. He went to the place of comfort. He told the Sadducees who denied the resurrection God is not the God of the dead but of the living and that was asserted after the words I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob and these patriarchs were very much alive in the presence of the Lord he was the God of the living Paul writing to the Ephesians referred to the whole family in heaven and in earth. So part of the family of God are already in heaven with the Lord which is far better and the remainder of the family are here upon the earth his own dear people. We believe that the unconverted go immediately to hell to the place of torment and fire at the point of death. Luke chapter 16 proves this point. When the rich man died, Christ informs us that in hell he lift up his eyes being in torment and he cried, I am tormented in this flame. Think of how Lazarus and the rich man have been in eternity for 2,000 years at least. One in a place of comfort, the other in a place of torment. And both of them are awaiting another day. It's appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. There is an after this. The day is coming when all men shall be raised to judgment. All without exception shall stand in the holy presence of the holy God to face his judgment and his justice. And this will take place at the resurrection. The bodies of the redeemed of God will one day rise from their graves and be reunited to their souls, but also to stand before the Lord. Likewise, the bodies of the unregenerate will be given up to the judgment of the Great White Throne. We believe in the resurrection of all men, both the saved and the lost, standing before the Roman governor, Felix, the great apostle, Paul spoke about the hope that he had in God concerning the resurrection and he declared there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. Every man without exception, whether he belongs to the Lord or not, shall rise from his grave one day. Those that are justified freely through the blood of Christ thy faith, and those who lived and died unjustified and without saving grace, they shall rise in a day of resurrection. But when will this take place? Will there be one general resurrection, as some have called it? Or will there be two distinct resurrections? One of the just and another of the unjust at two separate times. But I want to say in the second place tonight that there are two resurrections. John distinctly and clearly as he beholds and records the vision that is given to him in Revelation chapter 20 draws our attention to two different resurrections. One he calls the first resurrection. Here in Revelation chapter 20 and verse 5. The fact that he mentions the first resurrection would obviously imply that there must be another resurrection. There must be a second resurrection. This first resurrection takes place when the angel comes down from heaven and lays hold of Satan and shuts him up in the bottomless pit for a thousand years. Now what does John see in his vision? Who are those that rise from the grave in the first resurrection? Well look at verse 4. He says, I saw thrones and they sat upon them and judgment was given unto them and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God and which had not worshipped the beast neither his image neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. This is a reference to the saints of God and in particular emphasis is given to those dear saints who have suffered for the sake of Christ and for the cause of the gospel for John sees the souls of them who were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and those who refused to worship the beast in his image. I think that some emphasis is given here upon the or about the suffering saints as those closing years of the times of tribulation have just taken place And in those closing years there will be times of great sorrow and there will be many martyred for their faith in Christ. And so when we read of the resurrection here it will be of special comfort to the suffering saints. John has seen in his vision these servants of Christ put to death under the reign of the Antichrist. And many suffer for refusing to worship the beast and his image. Now he sees them resurrected and brought to the place of bliss and blessing. However, the first resurrection obviously includes all the saints of the Lord, all the redeemed of God who have lived and died from the beginning of time until the end of the age when Jesus comes. We must interpret the book of Revelation with the light of other scriptures. And so we must read, and so when we read of the first resurrection in Revelation chapter 20, we must Think of that which has already been revealed in the Scriptures. And understand that the timing of this resurrection is at the moment when Jesus Christ comes again. And the saints of God rise on that resurrection day. This first resurrection corresponds to such passages as 1 Thessalonians 4. These words of course are particularly comforting to the Lord's people. In fact, many times when we go to the home where a dear child of God has passed away, and we're seeking to bring a word of comfort and encouragement to a grieving family, we will turn our attention to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Because the Apostle Paul says, comfort one another with these words. That's how the chapter finishes, but look there at Verse 13, I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. And then these words of reassurance, wherefore comfort one another with these words. And these words are comforting. We're told here about the resurrection of the dead. the resurrection of the justified ones, corresponding to the first resurrection in Revelation chapter 20. The saints of God rising from their graves when Jesus comes again. Another passage of scripture that is in parallel with this is 1 Corinthians 15, where in verse 51, the apostle says, Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment. In the twinkling of an eye at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. So the dead are being raised incorruptible here, and on that day we, the believers in Christ, shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? So this is a marvellous event. It is the resurrection of the just, the resurrection of the Lord's dear people. In these passages of scripture, which deal with the coming of Christ and the resurrection of the dead, the references are clearly speaking about the redeemed only. There's no mention whatsoever about the resurrection of the wicked. Only the dead in Christ rise, and rise to meet the Lord at his coming. It refers to that time, at the sounding of the last trump, when God's people will be changed. When this corruptible must put on incorruption, this mortal must put on immortality. And so Paul is evidently speaking about the first resurrection. In the book of Hebrews, Paul speaking of the trials of the godly, he refers to a better resurrection. It can only be a better resurrection if you rise to meet the Lord at his coming and are accepted in Christ when he comes again. It must be one of splendor. Jesus says, I will come again and receive you, referring to his people unto myself. Our Savior spoke of the resurrection in his controversy with the Sadducees in Luke chapter 20. And verse 35, he says, they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, that's the world of heaven, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage. The Sadducees had given what was really a hypothetical situation regarding the resurrection and marriage and relationships in the world to come. Look there in verse 28, they say, Master Moses wrote unto us, if any man's brother die having a wife, and he die without children, that his brother should take his wife and raise up his seed unto his brother. They were there for seven brethren, and this is the hypothetical situation, and the first took a wife and died without children, and the second took her to wife and he died childless, and the third took her, and in like manner the seven also, and they left no children and died. Last of all, the woman died also. Therefore, in the resurrection, that they denied, but they're putting this question to the Lord, And they're asking him if such a thing is taking place. In the resurrection, whose wife of them is she? For seven had her to wife. And Jesus gives the answer in the next verse. He says the children of this world marry and are given marriage. And then this verse that we've quoted. But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage, neither can they die any more, for they are equal unto the angels, and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection." In the resurrection referred to by Jesus Christ there are those who are accounted worthy. And they are called the children of God and they are the children of the resurrection. There must be therefore a resurrection for which worthiness is needed. And we know that this can only refer to those who have been made worthy through the work of redemption, through the work that Christ has accomplished on our behalf. And therefore it cannot be a reference to the unconverted. There is another passage of scripture that I want to mention this evening and that's in Luke chapter 14 and verse 12. The Lord says when thou makest a dinner or a supper call not thy friends nor thy brethren neither thy kinsmen nor thy rich neighbors lest they also bid thee again and a recompense be made thee. But when thou makest a feast call the poor the maimed, the lame, the blind, and thou shalt be blessed, for they cannot recompense thee, for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." The resurrection of the just, the justified ones. Here it is further proved that there is a separate resurrection for those that are justified in Christ. The Lord did not say thou shalt be recompensed at the general resurrection, no rather he declared that the recompense would take place at the resurrection of the just. See its Virgin said the words of the just are superfluous in the passage unless they do refer to some era distinguished and distinct from the resurrection of the unjust. The resurrection does not happen until the end of the thousand years, that second resurrection, the resurrection of the unjust. Because in Revelation chapter 20 and verse 5 we are told but the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. It is at this time When Jesus comes and intervenes on behalf of his people and he deals once and forever with Satan casting him into the lake of fire and brimstone as we have read there this evening in verse 10. That a throne of judgment is set up and the rest of the dead are given up for fearful and eternal judgment. That of which we read in verse 11 through to verse 15. We'll come back to that just in a few moments time. Nowhere in the Bible is a general resurrection taught. And by general, I'm referring to the term, I'm using the term rather to refer to a particular day of resurrection of all men, saved and lost, just and unjust, rising in a general sense. No, the rest of the Bible supports two resurrections which are outlined and specified by John here in Revelation chapter 20. We think of Daniel 12 and verse 2. Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. We think of John chapter 5 verses 28 and 29. Two resurrections. One that is described as a resurrection of life. or the first resurrection that we read about in Revelation chapter 20 and one that is the resurrection of damnation here in Revelation chapter 20 and verse 5. Revelation 20 teaches two bodily resurrections and two judgments. There is the resurrection of the just and the resurrection of the wicked. One of the saints who sleep in Jesus and another of those who live and die without grace and perish in their sins. And that brings me on to my final point tonight. The Bible teaches the outcome of these resurrections are completely and eternally different. Regarding the first resurrection, those concerned live and reign with Christ a thousand years. The statement is made in verse 6 for those who had part in this first resurrection. We're talking here about something that is most glorious. We shall be a blessed people indeed. On such the second death hath no power. Thank God for that day when we shall rise to meet the Lord. The second death has no power upon us, no authority upon us. We shall never be lost. We shall never go to hell. We're saved by the grace of God. We are hidden in Christ. We are clothed in his righteousness alone. We are washed in the Redeemer's blood. We stand forgiven in his presence. I like the way the Spurgeon put it as he preached on this subject. How can damnation fall on any? but those who are sinners and are guilty of sin. But the saints are not guilty of sin. They have sinned like others and they were by nature the children of wrath even as others. But their sin has been lifted from them. It was laid upon the scapegoat's head of old. He, the eternal substitute Even our Lord Jesus carried all their guilt and their iniquity into the wilderness of forgetfulness where it shall never be found against them forever. They wear the Savior's righteousness even as they have been washed in his blood. And what wrath can lie on the man who is not only guiltless through the blood but is meritorious through the imputed righteousness O arm of justice, thou art nerveless to smite the blood-washed. O ye flames of hell, how could even so much as the breath of your heat press upon the man who is safe-covered in the Saviour's wounds? On such the second death hath no power. And thank God they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and they shall reign with Him a thousand years. It doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, we're going to be like Him, and we're going to see Him as He is, and we're going to live and reign with Him during those blessed days. Now regarding those who live not again, until the thousand years were finished, while their end is seen in the detail of the great white throne of judgment. And what fearful words are these that we read in the concluding part of Revelation chapter 20, when in verse 11 John is brought to see a great white throne, and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and it was found no place for them, And I saw the dead small and great stand before God, and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, And death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them. And they were judged every man according to their works. That's why I tell you tonight I'm glad that I'm not going to be judged according to my works. I've been judged already in and through Christ my Saviour. And I have all the merit of the blood of Christ. But these who stand at the great white throne They are judged according to their works. And they are sentenced accordingly. Because death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. What an awful day it will be. When those who died without the Lord, died without grace, died without mercy, died in their sin. will be resurrected after the thousand years to stand at the great white throne of judgment. Solemn things tonight and we need to pray and pray for our land and pray for those that are lost in their sin that they might escape the wrath of God to come. May God encourage our hearts tonight as we're thankful to him that we have no part in the second death. We have no part in that other resurrection, but we are the children of the first resurrection and we shall rise to meet the Lord at the resurrection of the justified ones. May God bless us and encourage us by these thoughts. Let us pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank Thee tonight for all Thy mercy to us. We thank Thee for the grace of God that found us. We were wandering in our sin, We were far away from the Father's house, but we thank Thee in loving kindness Jesus came, my soul in mercy, to reclaim. Thank Thee for the day that we were brought to know Him, when our eyes were open to see things that we could never have seen, for the natural man cannot perceive these things. When our hearts were given understanding and wisdom to understand our need of a Saviour, We were brought to see our sin and the consequences of sin, but we were brought to see that there is a saviour from sin, one who died in our guilty room instead and bore the eternal punishment that we deserved when he died upon the cross of Calvary in my place. Condemned he stood. He sealed my pardon with his blood. And we can all say tonight from redeemed hearts, Hallelujah! What a Saviour! We thank Thee that there is coming a day when we shall rise to meet the Lord. We thank Thee for the glorious truth of the first resurrection. We thank Thee for the blessing that is ours to be part in that resurrection when we shall see the Lord and we shall be with Him and we shall reign with Him. O God, we pray that You'll bless Thy dear people that are here this evening, and all who listen to this message, may it encourage our hearts. We pray, O God, your blessing to it, inscribe it upon our hearts indelibly, and help us to rejoice in the Lord, our blessed Redeemer, for Jesus' sake. Amen.