A prepared place

Now, turn with me, please, to John's Gospel, chapter 14, and we'll read from verse number 1. John 14 and verse 1. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you.

And 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 ye may be also. And whither I go you know, and the way you know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No man cometh unto the Father but by me. Now, turn back in your Bible to the book, the book of Malachi, and verse, chapter 1, verse 1 of Malachi. The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.

I have loved you, saith the Lord, yet ye say, wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother, saith the Lord? Yet I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness. Whereas Edom saith, we are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, they shall build, but I will throw down.

Now, perhaps we'll just go to chapter 3. I'm going to use your memory for some of the things. Well-known verses there at the end of chapter 3, verse 16. And they that feared the Lord speak often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it.

And a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels. And I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.

Then shall he return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. Now, another reading in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 1, verse 5. There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias of the course of Abiai, and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.

And they had no child, because that Elizabeth was barren, and they were now well-stricken in years. Now, verse 26. And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto the city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary.

Now, go to chapter 2, please. Verse 25. And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel.

And the Holy Ghost was upon him, and it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law, then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now let us thy servant depart in peace according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.

And Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him. And Simeon blessed them, and said unto his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against. Yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also, and the thoughts of many hearts shall be revealed.

And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity. And she was a widow of about four score and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.

And she coming in at that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and speak of him to all them that looked for the redemption in Jerusalem. Now, we know that God will bless his Word with what we have already heard in the meeting this morning and this afternoon, and even last night. Now, I'm going to speak, first of all, about a prepared place.

And then I'm going to speak a little bit about a prepared people. The Lord is dealing with us in a way so that we might be a prepared people, prepared for him and his return. Now, in the Gospel of John, we know those words.

We love to quote them at funerals and bring comfort to us. Let not thine heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me.

In my Father's house are 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.

There is a place in heaven. There's a place for every believer. I'm sure you know that likely when the Lord spoke those words, he was thinking of the Father's house here on earth.

But he said there's another house. There's a house in heaven. But it's a kind of a pattern down here of what it's going to be like in heaven.

In the Father's house down here, there were many cubicles where the priests lived when they were fulfilling their course. We read of Zechariah, of the course of Abii. David had made 24 courses for the priests, and Zechariah was the eighth.

So, he was in the temple. And God said there's a place for every priest in the temple. So, there's a place for every believer in heaven.

God has reserved a place for you. It's not that he's making the places now. You know that.

In my Father's house are many mansions or places of abode. They're already there. And the way he prepared them was by going into glory, a man in the glory, a man in the uncreated sphere.

And because he has gone there, he has given us access, and one day, perhaps today, you and I, all of us that are saved by the grace of God, are going to be caught up into that place that is prepared. It's not that we go to it in death. That's not the idea.

But it's speaking of the Lord's return. It's not just speaking of him going to Calvary. Some maybe put that in there as well.

Personally, I think he's just talking about heaven. I'm going home to heaven, and I'm going to leave you here, but I'm not going to leave you orphans. He said, I go to prepare a place for you.

So, there's a Father's house, and he said to his disciples, you believe in God. They all believed in God. He said, believe also in me.

What he was saying, I believe, is that you believe in an invisible God. No one has ever seen God. God's invisible.

And he said, also keep on believing in me when I am unseen. I'm going to the Father's house, and he's going, but he doesn't leave us all alone. He's going to send another comforter or paraclete.

He's going to send the Holy Spirit, and he's going to give us the Holy Spirit. What for? Well, we know in John chapter 7, the Lord says, this speak he of the Spirit that was not yet given, for Christ was not yet glorified. He's glorified.

He's in heaven. The Spirit has been given, and the Spirit is a link with God in heaven. Not only do we look at verse number 6 in John 14 and say, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

We preach that in the gospel, and I'm still going to preach it in the gospel. Wonderful thing to know that. But I think there's more to it than that.

He's telling them, I'm going away, but you're going to have a link with me in heaven. I'm the way, even in spirit, where we enter the heavenly sanctuary when we pray. This is something that we can enjoy right now.

So, there is a place prepared. There's a place for you, dear brother and sister. There's a place for me.

And I'm glad I don't deserve it, as none of us deserve it. But the Lord has prepared a place. Now, he sent the Holy Spirit.

I was thinking, sometimes my mind keeps on thinking too much, maybe. But I was thinking about the Holy Spirit. He's going to give the Holy Spirit.

Is that enough? Is the Holy Spirit enough to keep us down here in the fear of God and in the things of God? Well, I'll tell you what I like to think of John 17. In John 17, it's the Lord Himself. It's our high priest.

He has entered into heaven for us to represent us there. So, we have not only are we indwelt by the Holy Spirit to give us strength to live for God down here, so that we might be a spiritual people led by the Spirit, but we also have a great high priest, one who draws near to us—Hebrews 2, last verse—able to succor us in temptation. There are testings down here.

We've heard a lot about that in our conference, and that's what caused me maybe to speak a little bit now. There are many testings that we have, but there's one who draws near to succor us in the testing. And then when we come to Hebrews chapter 4, what do we read? He's able to succor us or to sympathize with us in temptation.

There are times of testings as well. And, you know, there are three great things that God has for us in this wilderness journey. There's the Word of God—quick and powerful, living and operative, and sharper than any two-edged sword.

And it's able to pierce into the innermost being. And when I read those words, I really, I think of the law. And the law, you know, it shows us our weakness.

Now, we're not under law, I know that. But he's writing to those Hebrews, and the law shows us our weakness. You know, there were those that lifted up the lid of the ark and looked in, and God smote them.

Why did he smite them? I think it was not just because they weren't Levites, but it was because there was nothing between them and the law. The law was in the ark of the covenant, the unbroken law, and it condemned any. And the reason there was a mercy seat on it, there had to be the blood upon it before God could dwell with his people.

And he's able to save to the uttermost. The Lord's going to bring us safely through. And whether we go by the article of death, we're all waiting for the Lord to come.

That's what I'm waiting for. And that's what these people were waiting for—waiting for the Lord to come. Now, what about the prepared people? Some have wondered about those first words in the book of Malachi.

Well, he said, I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau. He said, I thought God loved everybody. Well, God does.

But he didn't write these things when the boys were born, but really, it said the way they went. The kind of a character that Esau was. And it's called Edom.

That's where they lived, Edom and Esau, virtually the same thing. And he said, I loved Jacob. Jacob had a heart for the things of God.

He wanted the birthright, and he wanted the blessing. He may have connived to get it. He likely would have gotten it if he had just waited.

But he connived to get it, but at least he wanted what was really the important things. Esau said there's things more important than the birthright and the blessing. That's temporal things.

Well, he said, I'm starving. I need this lentil soup or whatever it was, and it doesn't matter. But the things that were holy, he counted as profane.

You say, well, what's that got to do with the days of Malachi? Well, you know, there had been recovery, and God's people had been brought back from Babylon, and now they're in the land. And we're not going to go into all the Ezra and Nehemiah and so on, but they're in the land, but they seem to be slipping. And you know, there's a great recovery a few hundred years ago.

I'm not saying that there weren't assemblies all along. There may have been. There was a tremendous recovery.

But brethren and sisters, I believe, were letting things slip. Things are slipping. You say, how are they slipping? Well, why does he bring Esau into this little book, the last book in the Old Testament? Because God's people, even though they were descended from Jacob, they were living as though they were descended from Esau.

And the things that were so important to God, they're letting them slip. And oh, they said, wherein hast thou loved us? What a question! And you know, there are many questions in the book of Malachi. Imagine questioning God, wherein hast thou loved us? I hope none of us would ever.

How could we ever be like that? God loves us, and God has the best for us. And as our brother was teaching us, the grace of acceptance is one of the most wonderful things in all the Word of God. The Lord Himself was a great example of that.

When He was rejected by Capernaum, Bethsaida, Chorazin, what did He do? Didn't complain. He said, I thank thee, O righteous Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and has revealed them unto babes, even so it seemeth good in thy sight. He accepted what would seem to be against Him from the Lord.

And do you know what the Lord does? He'll bring in something better. Now, it may be difficult to understand, but I'll tell you, at least in the Gospel of Matthew, after chapter 11, what do we have? We have chapter 13. What's chapter 13? That's the kingdom, isn't it? The kingdom and mystery.

That was going to be brought in, the parables of the kingdom, let's put it that way. And then, when we come to chapter 16, you have the church, God's building, upon this rock I will build my church. That couldn't come in unless it'd been rejected by the nation.

And then after that, as our brother reminded us, Matthew 18, the local assembly. And all these things were brought in because he was rejected. And he accepted that from God.

Now, I know what you're thinking. How can I accept things if God takes my partner or something like that? Some of us know a little bit about it. Well, I'll tell you what it does.

It brings us closer to the Lord. We may not want it. We may not have designed it that way, but it'll bring us closer.

There's always something good that would come out of it. Now, here they are. Oh, they're still worshiping.

God hasn't come in and judgment against them. That's what they said in one of the verses. Where is the God of judgment? Why, if God hasn't come in and judgment against us, and for today we'd say, in judgment against the assemblies, we must be doing things all right.

God says, no way. That's not what it's teaching at all. God's long-suffering.

And God was long-suffering for the people in that day. And he wanted them to be corrected. And here they are.

Oh, we're worshiping, you know. We're bringing sacrifices. What were they bringing, the lame and the blind? They didn't seem to understand that these sacrifices were all lovely pictures of the Lord Jesus Christ himself.

Imagine the lame and the blind, the one that was perfect, perfect in his vision. Look at the Song of Solomon, perfect in his walk. They didn't have an appreciation for him as they should.

I wonder, do we have that? When we gather together, are we bringing the best? We're bringing something out of our storehouse. It's not that we need to get into the Bible for 10 or 20 minutes on a Saturday night or Sunday before we come to the meeting. Get into your Bible, certainly.

But that should be the tenor of our life. Day by day, we should be drawing from the Word of God and learning things that we can offer to God and tell God the glory of the glories of his Son. What is our occupation? Why, are you an Edomite? Are you occupied with the things that you could see? They said, we're going to build everything up.

God says, I'm going to pull it down. And no matter how much you amass, now someone mentioned, there's nothing wrong with having a good job and earning a good salary. But that shouldn't be the tenor of your life.

Don't forget the things of God. That's what they were doing. They were forgetting these things, and they were challenging God.

And there was a priesthood, just as we have a priesthood today. We believe in the priesthood of all believers. What were the priests doing? Well, I'll tell you, they weren't really helping God's people.

I mean, preaching is a priestly work, you know. I know it's deacon work, too. But a priest is a man that spent time in the presence of the Lord.

And that's what we should be doing, all of us, spending time in the Lord's presence. And if it's given to us to give a little word, well, we come out from His presence. We have a word.

We could have read of John the Baptist in the New Testament. There was a man sent by God? No. Sent from God, whose name was John.

He was with God, and God sent him out. He was a unique man. He was a priest in leather skins.

Wasn't in priestly garments. Lately, Zechariah was saying, well, I'm glad I have a son now. We're going to see him in lovely priestly vestments.

But that wasn't God. God says, no. The priesthood is coming to an end, as far as the time is concerned.

You can't even bless the people. There was no blessing. He was a good man, but he couldn't bless the people.

But there's another priest coming in, and his son was not only a priest but a prophet, John the Baptist. And he's going to introduce the real priest. And if you read the Gospel, just look at it.

The law was finishing. The law went by on the other side of the man that came down from Jerusalem to Jericho. Levi couldn't help.

That period of the law was drawn to a close, and the Lord was bringing in someone that was greater. Now, we read there of some in Malachi chapter 3, and they were different, weren't they? I'll tell you, this is a lovely little group. And you know, first of all, it says, a book of remembrance was written before him.

You know, the people didn't think much of them. Like those in Hebrews chapter 11, they wandered in sheepskins and goatskins with the offscaling of the earth, of whom the world is not worthy. The world said they're not worthy to be in the world.

And here, we go on for God. And the most important thing today is to keep yourself right with God and for me to keep myself right with God. And you may say, well, nobody seems to know anything about it.

God doesn't seem to notice. What he does, a book of remembrance is written for him. In the days of Esther, wasn't it, Mordecai saved the king's life, and the king couldn't sleep, and he brought out the book of the chronicles.

I'm going to call the book of remembrance. And then he read what this man had done. What shall be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honor? Wicked Haman thought it was him, but you know it was Mordecai.

The Lord knows there's a record in heaven, and the day is coming when there are going to be rewards. Then shall every man have praise from God. I've often wondered, maybe I'm adding to the Bible when I say praise to God for what he has really done.

We need to go in for serving God. That's what these people did. It says that they feared the Lord, and they speak often one to another.

Wonder what they were speaking about. Not about the latest sports scores and things like that. Maybe not about politics.

One of the believers from England said to me, why are the people in the United States so much interested in politics? Well, I said, I don't think many of them would vote. Hopefully not. They said, I know, but they're always talking about Obama and what Obama's doing.

And well, maybe he's right. We don't need to be talking about those things. We need to know what's going on in the world.

We don't have blinkers on. But you know, it's good to talk about the Lord. I think that's what they were talking about.

The Lord's coming. For them, he was coming as a son of righteousness with healing in his wings. But I'm applying it to us.

And the Lord himself was coming, born in Bethlehem. And they're waiting for that day. And they speak often one to another.

I think that's how they greeted themselves. And they would love to speak of the things of God. I wonder, are we like that? I know there are men that I learned a lot from, and women as well, would ask questions and tell you little things they had found.

I tell you, we need to get back to that, don't we? And you never went down to anyone's house for a meal or a snack or whatever you call it here. They talk about lunch after meeting. They're foreign terms to me.

But anyhow, we get lots to eat. One man in Ireland said, I couldn't join the assemblies. I couldn't eat enough.

Well, we get plenty to eat. But you know, when we ever gather together, he used to get out the book and always read a few verses and hopefully explains things to us when we're young believers. We loved it.

We had a zeal. We still should have that zeal for the things of God. It shouldn't wane.

I know it can, but we need to have a zeal for the things of God. And we need to encourage one another. That would be almost like washing one another's feet, wouldn't it? The water of the Word, and the words maybe about the Lord himself, telling him all the lovely little things that we learn about the Lord.

That's what warms our heart, and that's what draws us closer to him. So they speak often one to another. And then it says, for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name.

His name is all that he is. We'd speak of his authority too, wouldn't it? Gather together unto his name. What a tremendous privilege that is.

There are many dear Christians that maybe are more devoted than some of us are, at least, and they've never known the place of the name. I hope we value the local assembly. There's no place like it on this earth.

It may not be perfect, and it never will be perfect down here, but I'll tell you this, there's no place like it. And here's people that had a reverence for the name. Everything they did, they did in his name.

And that's what we're looking at in Matthew 18. Two or three, gather together unto my name. There am I in the midst of them.

And if your assembly's small, don't let it worry you too much. We'd like to see assemblies grow. We'd like to see them grow spiritually, maybe as much as numerically.

But I mentioned recently—I think it was at Antioch—that the priesthood in Israel started with five men, and two of them were taken in death because they offered strange fire unto the Lord. And there were only three left in the priesthood, but I tell you, they could function as priests. And even though your assembly is small, the Lord takes great delight in it.

A book of remembrance is written. He knows all about it. Even if there's difficulties in the area where you are, the Lord knows all about it.

And the day is coming. And what's he going to say? Oh, he said, you're my jewels. You're really precious to me, because you're speaking of the things of God.

You're gathered unto his name. And then it says in verse 17, I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. So, we serve him.

And that's what we have. So, I must draw to a close. But that's what we have in the New Testament.

We have a Joseph and a Mary. You know, in the gospel of Matthew, you have those that are waiting to—they're antagonistic against the Lord. You have Herod.

Do you know who Herod is? He's an Edomite. See, the same thing. There are Edomites acting like Edomites in Malachi.

Ah, but thank God, here's a godly little remnant. And what are they doing? Well, you know, Mary should say maybe they had a link with heaven. The angels came down and talked to them.

That's another nice little subject. The angels, you know, the angels have an interest in God's house. You don't believe that? Go back to the book of Genesis.

You'll find Jacob's dream in the ladder to heaven. What did he saw? He saw the angels. The angels have a link.

We have a link with heaven, and the angels have a desire to look into the things of God as far as the house is concerned. And you can bring that into the New Testament as well. But what did Mary do when the angel came to her? She mused these things in her heart.

She thought about these things. Now, we're not told what she thought. It would be maybe interesting to find out, but we're not going to find out down here.

Likely should come in for a lot of reproach. Here's a woman that's not married, going to have a child. Wouldn't have been easy for her.

And you're likely wondering, what kind of a child is this going to be? Now, I have to be very reverent, but the Lord's coming. Are we that interest? What kind of a person is He really? Are we going in for knowing more of Him? That's why God saved us, to be like Him. That's why God allows these things in our lives that we've heard a lot of at the conference at this time.

Suffering. There are those that are suffering. Why? It's to prepare a people for His name.

If we weren't suffering, many of us would be occupied with other things. If we weren't brought down now and again, we'd be exalted. We wouldn't be like that little child that the Lord put in the midst.

Wouldn't be humble. God is using these things, so we'll be waiting for the Lord. Not settling down here.

We're passing through, and we'll soon be home. We have the link with heaven. Are we going to live in view of that link? And then, they speak.

What about Simeon? Most of us make him an old man. We're not told what age he was, really, but he could have been an old man. But some of us are getting older, too.

And you know, it'd be nice if that's what our speech was about. You can tell from what comes out of our mouth what we're occupied with. Israel, in the wilderness, they were interested in the food of Egypt.

That's the Ishmaelite, or rather the Edomite thought. Interested in the food of Egypt. You know, you could tell what they were feeding on.

You just had to get close. You know, some people, they like to eat garlic and things. My father believed that you ate raw garlic for your heart.

And when he peeled one of those things off, wow, I tell you. My children came running down the stairs, and one had a gas mask on. We had to show them we had gas masks during the Second World War.

And I tell you, you can soon tell what they've been eating, what they've been feeding on. It's the same with us, isn't it? Soon tell what we've been feeding on by what comes out of our mouth. And here's a man, and a prophet, and he knew quite a bit about what's going to take place, a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of my people Israel.

God's going to deal with the Gentiles before he comes in and deals with his people again. So, you have Mary, you have Simeon speaking, Mary thinking. What does it say about Anna? Maybe you didn't get it when we read it, but it says, she served.

Here's a woman that served God. An older lady. You have to be careful.

I was in a meeting when a man talked about all the old ladies over 80, and I tell you, they weren't too happy. They're older, you know. People have a way of bringing you down.

They say, you look good, you get older. Used to tell me I was good looking, now they tell me I'm looking good. And I don't mind that as long as they don't say for your age.

That brings it all down. But you know, beloved brethren and sisters, heaven is close. We're soon going to be home.

Are we really anticipating that? I have told a story, I'll tell it again, about two old people. Now, I'm talking about an old couple in their 80s, probably. And you know, they were on a health food binge.

They wouldn't eat any of the good things like fish and chips or, you know, the big desserts. Wouldn't bother, oh no, we can't eat that. Well, you know, the both of them, they died.

And they went to heaven. There's a big table spread with all kinds of desserts. Pavlova and all these lovely things.

And the old fellow looked at them and shook his head. And the people up there, they said, go ahead and eat. Don't have to worry about calories or cholesterol or carbohydrates or the things that I'm supposed to worry about.

They said, don't worry about all those things. Just get, just eat. You're not going to put on weight or anything.

And he looked at it and then eventually he went and he took some. My, he licked his lips. He took more.

And he turned around to his wife and he said, you know, you and I could have been in heaven 10 years ago if it wasn't for your old bran muffins. So, are we really anticipating heaven? People ask me, am I taking pills to keep out of heaven? No, I'm taking pills to keep out of the hospital. But are we really anxious to get to heaven? Wonderful thing, isn't it? Be reunited with those that have gone before.

That'll be great. No sickness, no this. I'll tell you something far greater.

We're going to see him. We're going to see the marks on his hands and the marks on his feet. Maybe the marks on his side.

And I tell you, it'd be worth it all, wouldn't it? Shouldn't that give us a desire to live for him now? So that we might bring glory and honor to him in this little world. We might speak about him. We might think about him.

That's the order, really. Thinking first, isn't it? The mind. We're reminded that in the Bible readings.

Then speaking about him and then serving him. So, may the Lord bless his word for his name's sake.