My dear readers,

(Excerpt from RPG "Morning & Evening" Jan – Mar 1997, Jan 7 / Jan 12 / Jan 13 / Oct – Dec 1999, Dec 25).

1. The Father sent the Son

It is a sweet thought that Jesus our Saviour did not come forth without His Father’s permission, authority, consent and assistance. He was sent of the Father, that He might be our Saviour. But too frequently we seem to ascribe the honour of our salvation more to Jesus Christ than we do the Father. This is a very great mistake which we must be careful to avoid.

What if Jesus came? Did not His Father send Him? If He spoke wondrously, did not His Father pour grace into His lips? Let us not forget that while there are three Persons in the Trinity, there are no distinctions of honour: in this they are coequal. He who knows the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, never sets one before another. We see the blessed Trinity equally engaged in the work of salvation at Bethlehem, at Gethsemane, and at Calvary.

O Christian reader, have you put your confidence in the Man Christ Jesus? Are you united with Him? Of course, you say. Then believe that you are united also with God the Father, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: He is also your Father and Friend. Ponder the depth of love in the heart of the Father when He sent His Son on that greatest mission of mercy – for you and me.

Make this today’s meditation: "The Father sent the Son." Contemplate the height and depth, length and breadth of God’s love. Then think how Jesus works what the Father wills. In the wounds of the dying Son see the love of the bleeding Son of God. "… God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself…" (2 Cor 5:19). Think what it cost the Father to send His Son to become the "Son of man" that we might become the sons of God! All glory to the Triune God!

2. The Lord Jesus shall be revealed

The greatest sadness and irreparable shock to unbelieving Christendom will be the sudden awakening to the Lord Jesus’ return in the clouds of heaven, just as the angels had said at our Lord’s ascension: "…this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven…" (Acts 1:11). The fact is unbelieving Christendom merely pays lip service to the doctrine of the Second Coming of our Lord.

What will it be like when Jesus comes? Our Lord will come "… with His mighty angels, In flaming fire…" (2 Thess 1:7-8). He will come on a white horse, and the armies of heaven will follow Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean (Rev 19:11, 14). By the Word which comes out of His mouth, our Lord will judge and subdue the nations, and rule them with a rod of iron, for He returns as KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

Together with unbelieving Christendom, the ONE WORLD SYSTEM "OIKOUMENE" will be jolted out of its false security to face the ultimate reality of the ASCENDED LORD JESUS returning in power and glory. Here is an eyewitness description of the SECOND COMING as previewed by John: "And the kings of the earth, ... the great men, ... rich men, ... chief captains, ... mighty men, ... every bondman, ... every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" (Rev 6:15-17).

3. A name above every name

When a person is dear, everything about him becomes dear. So precious is the person of the Lord Jesus in the estimation of all true believers that everything about Him becomes inestimable beyond price. Such is the worth of the names of Christ our Lord – they are sweet in the believer’s ear. Consider the beloved hymn by John Newton:

How sweet the name of Jesus sounds

In a believer’s ear!

It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,

And drives away his fear.

Consider the names of our blessed Lord: He is called the Husband of the Church, her Bridegroom, her Friend; He is the Lamb of God, the King, the Prophet, the Priest; He is Shiloh, Emmanuel, Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Every title is like the honeycomb dripping honey, sweet beyond compare.

But if there be one name sweeter than another in the believer’s ear, it is the name JESUS. Jesus! It is the name which moves the harps of heaven to sweetest melody. Jesus! It is the source of all our joys. None other is more charming, more precious than this. Jesus! It is the name that saves unto eternal life in God’s everlasting realm.

Then, the day will come, "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil 2:10-11).

4. The salvation of the Lord (Ps 3:1-8)

Many people, if they are asked what they understand by salvation, will reply, "Being saved from hell and taken to heaven." This is only one result of salvation, but not even one tenth of it. True, our Lord Jesus Christ redeems all His people from the wrath to come; He saves them from the fearful condemnation of their sins; but His salvation is far more than this.

Our Lord saves His people "from their sins" (Matt 1:21). Oh the sweet deliverance from our worst foes! Where Christ does a saving work, He casts Satan from his throne, and will not let him be master any longer. No man is a true Christian if sin reigns in his mortal body. While sin will never be expelled till we enter into glory, nevertheless it must not have dominion in our lives. The true believer has Christ as his Master, and sin is mortified.

Christian professor! Is sin subdued in you? If your life is unholy, your heart is unchanged, and if your heart is unchanged, you are an un-saved person. If the Saviour has not sanctified you, renewed you, given you a hatred of sin and a love of holiness, He has done nothing in you of a saving character. The grace which does not change a man or make him a new person is a worthless counterfeit.

Christ saves His people, not in their sins, but from their sins. Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord (Heb 12:4). Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity! Lord, save me now from all evil, and enable me to honour my Saviour with my life. In Christ a new creature.

God bless all readers.

Yours faithfully in the Saviour’s Service,

Dr SH Tow, Sr Pastor