LOOKING UP

By T.T. McKay

                                   SCOTLAND

 “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of them own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God: having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: … Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution…” II Timothy 3:1-5, 12.

When the believer looks around, and sees these things coming to pass, there is a tendency to feel despondent and to lose hope. What should one do when confronted with such things which cause them to feel so low in spirit? As well as sounding the warning about things to come, the Apostle Paul also gives some instruction  within these verses.  At the end of verse 5 he encourages the believers to “turn away” from those that are indicated in the previous verses.

Where are the believers to turn to when such wickedness abounds? The answer can perhaps be gleaned from one who likewise experienced the oppression of the enemy; David the king. The Psalmist communed With his own spirit about the matter in Psalms 42 and 43 Where he says, “Why art thou cast down, 0 my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God:” Three times he asks these questions when the enemy comes against him, and every time the answer is the same; “hope thou in God.” In verse 6 of psalm 42, David says, “O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee…” In the times of his despondency, David turned away from the wicked and hoped and trusted in his God. This is what every believer must do; turn from the wicked and hope and trust in God.

How can the believer be encouraged to hope and trust in God? Encouragement can be found through the reading of God’s Word; “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” Romans, 15-4.

The Almighty makes many promises and covenants throughout His Word. A quick look at one or two of His covenants which require looking up in trust and in hope is a worthwhile idea at this point.

One covenant was at the time of Noah, just after the flood. God made a covenant saying “… neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.” With this covenant, God gave a token; “This is the token of the covenant which I make.., for perpetual generations: … I do set my bow in the cloud, … And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, the everlasting covenant.” (The giving of this covenant can be read in full in Genesis 9:8-17). The believer can look up in trust and in hope when they see a rainbow, knowing that it is God’s token of His covenant to never again destroy all flesh with a flood.

Another covenant is in Genesis 15, when Abram was wondering who would be his heir, the Almighty made a promise to Abram; “… he that shall come forth of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.” (verse 4) With this promise He also gave a token; “Look now toward the heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and He said unto him, So shall thy seed be.”(verse 5) This promise was reiterated to Abraham in Genesis 22 (his name having been changed from Abram by this point), and again the same token was given, “…blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, …” (verse 17). The same promise, with the same token was given to Abraham’s son Isaac. “I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven-” Genesis 26:4. (The same promise was made to Jacob, but the token of the stars was not used on this occasion; just the dust of the earth. That is why the promise to Jacob is not included in this article.) For those who believe in the identity truth, when they look up and see the innumerable stars, they can do so in trust that God has indeed kept His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and that even as the stars remain and are still innumerable, so too are the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob today.

Finally, God’s covenant with David. In II Samuel 7, the Almighty declares to David, “.., thine house and thy kingdom shall be established, for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established forever.” (verse 16). God repeats this promise at other points, declaring, “… there shall not fail thee a man on the throne of Israel.” God gave a token with this covenant as well. In Psalm 89:35-37 He says, “Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.” Again, the believer can look up, trusting in God, because today even as the sun and the moon continue to shine, so the throne of David continues to this day through Queen Elizabeth II who can trace her ancestors all the way back to king David.

These well-known and loved covenants of God have tokens which require those who believe to look up – the rainbow, the sun, moon, and stars. Why is this so? Perhaps it is because, for those who look up in trust and hope concerning those covenants just mentioned, it serves as a reminder to look up in trust and hope for God’s most wonderful promise to those who have put their trust in Jesus for salvation – the second coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Not long before the Saviour was crucified, He told His disciples of the coming tribulation and how He would come again after the tribulation. In each account He says, “… they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds with power and great glory.” The full account of what the Saviour told His disciples can be found in Matthew 24:1-31, Mark 13:1-27, and Luke 21:5-28. Likewise, in Matthew 26:64 and  Mark 14:62, when Jesus is being questioned at His trial by the high priest, Jesus declares how the Son of man shall be seen “coming in the clouds of heaven.” Again, at the beginning of Acts, at the Saviour’s ascension, when the Jesus is done speaking to His disciples, He “was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight.” And here in the following verses is the promise again, “… 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). In Revelation 1: 7, John declares of the Saviour, “Behold, He cometh with clouds:” The Scriptures make it clear that the Saviour, Jesus, is going to return in the clouds, and, like the tokens of those covenants looked at briefly in this article, those who trust and hope in Jesus to come again, can look up, and when they see the clouds, they can be reminded of the promise of the coming of the Saviour, when “… 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.” I Thessalonians 4:16, 17.

If the believer remembers the covenants of God looked at in this article, and looks up at the tokens of the rainbow, sun, moon, stars, and clouds, trusting and hoping in God’s steadfastness in keeping His promises, then those things listed in II Timothy 3 at the start of this article should not cause them to feel low in spirit. Instead, let them remember the words of our Master Jesus, “And when these things begin to pass,-then look up, and lift up  your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” Luke 21:28.

HALLELUJAH!