165: Dan Langston - Exhortation: After These Things

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   Welcome to Good Christadelphian Talks. I'm Levi. And I'm Chris. And I'm Brian. Thank you for joining us this week. On this podcast, we select one talk a week to help us get the Bible in our daily news feed. We post a new episode at the start of each week with a short intro beforehand to kind of set the stage for the talk you're about to listen to.

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   And now, let's talk more about this week's talk. Welcome to the Good Christadelphian Talks podcast. This is Brother Brian. This week's talk is an exhortation that was given by Brother Dan Langston that he gave last week at the Morristown, New Jersey Ecclesia. Brother Dan takes an interesting look at a phrase in scripture that would seem to serve more as a placeholder between verses and instead suggests that these three words could actually be the focal point instead.

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   The phrase is, after these things. And Brother Dan takes a practical approach to how the phrase feels in comparison to how we are very often losing focus on the here and now and let our thoughts drift to what's coming next. Anticipating what we'll do after work, what we'll do after Memorial, what we need to get done in the next week.

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   What comes next after these things? So in asking the question, what are the these things that are being highlighted, Brother Dan takes us through three occurrences that foreshadow and paint the picture of the work of Christ in a really refreshing way. Some of my favorite points come in the middle section when he's focusing on the meal that Jesus shares with his disciples at the Sea of Galilee after his resurrection.

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   And the whole exhort serves as a succinct reminder that, as we all hope, shortly the Christ will return. And as we will be gathered together, we will experience the after these things of what our daily life is now. So as always, we hope this strengthens your faith and brightens your day. Brother Dan Langston, after these things.

6. 2:53

   Well, good morning. As always, it's a pleasure to be here with you all this morning. And as we typically will do on Sundays, whether in person, whether gathering in front of a screen, as more common these days, here to remember our Lord. This is a time of respite for us, a time of sanctuary, a time when we can refocus and set the tone for the beginning of another week.

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   And it's well that we should do so, because it's a keeping of the commandment of the Lord that we remember him until he returns. Now, unfortunately, fortunately for me, my mind can wander at times. And sometimes during, you know, memorial service or Sunday school, I begin to think of maybe what I'm going to do later that day or later that week.

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   And perhaps maybe we all have a natural tendency to always be thinking of what's coming next and never really fully able to appreciate the moment. No matter what it is that we're doing, you know, even if we're at work, maybe we think about what we're going to do after work. And probably it's likely that a lot of us are looking forward to the end of the workday so we can get on with our day.

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   Or even when we're doing Bible readings at home, maybe we think about what we're going to do when we get done Bible readings. Or given the current state of affairs of the world today, we might be wondering what's coming next after the pandemic, right? It always seems to be something. So we sort of have this state of always thinking about what comes after these things, right, that we're seeing.

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    Now, in fairness, I can't speak for everybody. It's a bit of a generalization. But maybe to some extent, we all have some degree of restlessness or uncertainty in this way. So all of this morning, we could draw our thoughts from an examination of the scriptural appearances of the phrase, after these things. Now, the phrase appears many more times than that, than just three in the Bible.

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    In fact, in the King James, if you were to do a search on that phrase, you would find that the phrase occurs a total of 24 times. Not a whole lot, but also a lot more than three. And you may have even have noticed it, if you weren't thinking of what's coming after lawyer service, you may have noticed it in our reading this morning in John.

12. 5:30

    And that's going to be one of the particular instances we're going to look at. And I had thought to give the exhortation as something of lessons from John 20 and 21, because there's such great chapters there. But as I was going through and looking what in particular to discuss, I was really grabbed by this phrase, after these things.

13. 5:53

    And I said, hmm, well, there's something. And I looked into that phrase a little bit more. And so the question is, you know, that we have to ask is, why would we even look at this phrase versus any other phrase that we could look at? You know, is there any scriptural significance at all?

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    Or are we just kind of picking a phrase here and making something out of it that's not really there? You know, three words that you can say about anything, really. It's just common expression or phrase. But in this case, in these three particular occurrences that we're going to spend time looking at this morning, it so happens that I believe we can see in them the essence of the work of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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    And I thought it was really interesting that in just three instances of after these things, we can get almost a full picture of the work of our Lord. So the first occurrence, all that being said, the first occurrence I wanted to look at is in Genesis chapter 15. I know Brother Jim was there briefly this morning looking at the promises to Abraham.

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    But Genesis 15, the first six verses, and we read there, after these things, the word of Yahweh came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram. I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless? And the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus.

17. 7:23

    And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed, and lo, one born in my house is mine heir. And behold, the word of Yahweh came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir, but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad and said, Look now towards heaven, and tell the stars if thou be able to number them.

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    And he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in Yahweh. And Yahweh counted it to him for righteousness. And he said unto him, I am Yahweh that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees to give thee this land to inherit it. So this is a pretty significant event in its own right.

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    You know, never mind what happened before these things. Like, this is pretty significant. You know, God promising a seed to Abraham. But before we look more after, before we look more at the after these things, I think we have to look at what preceded these events, the before. So the question is, what were these things being spoken of?

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    Well, Genesis chapter 14, you may recall, records the story of a confederacy of kings from the area of Babylonia. That is to say, north of where Abraham was living at the time, in Mamre, in the land of Canaan. And these kings, in their confederacy, came down to war with the king of Sodom and kings of other neighboring cities.

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    Now, that confederacy of kings was able to subject Sodom and its neighboring cities to paying tribute for 12 years. They had them under their thumb, as it were. And in the 13th year, the kings decided, of Sodom and the other cities, they said, well, we've had enough of this, we've got to do something about this.

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    And they rebelled. And so that 13th year, there was a rebellion that took place. Now, keep in mind, before this war started, 12 years prior, Lot had gone to live east, in the plain of Jordan, believing it to be a desirable area to live. And we read that he pitched his tent towards Sodom in Genesis 13.

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    So, a year into this rebellion, in the 14th year, the strongest king of the northern confederacy, Kidder Laomer, brings down the largest army yet, determined to put down this rebellion. And he does. And he squashes the rebellion of Sodom and its sister cities. Captives were taken, goods were plundered, and Lot and his family became casualties of this war.

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    They were among the people that were taken back to the north. So, word of what had happened eventually reached Abram, who was concerned, of course, for the welfare of Lot and his family. And what Abraham did was he took 318 of his trained servants, he armed them, and pursued the army of King Keterliomer, catching up with them near Dan in the north of Canaan, and defeating them all together just north of there, in an area near Damascus.

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    So, Abram returns home as a conqueror, having restored the freedom of Lot and his family, and returning the possessions of the people of Sodom. So, that's the before. A lot of stuff going on. And so, what comes after? And it was the promised seed that we just read in Genesis 15. And it was where God speaks to Abraham for the fourth time.

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    And it is then that God reveals the seed will come from Abram himself, from his own bowels, not just a member of his household, but of Abraham himself. And the seed, you know, in looking at the seed, this first principle subject, it was both plural and singular. In the plural sense, Abraham was to have literal descendants, sons and daughters.

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    But he would also have a seed who would be heirs to the promises made to him who were not of his own flesh and blood. It was to be a class of spiritual descendants. And brothers and sisters, we believe that is us. But besides being plural, a plural promised seed, there was a singular seed as well referred to.

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    It was referenced to the specific seed who was to free humanity from the curse placed upon it in the garden. He was the seed that was to bruise or to crush the head of the seed of the serpent. And that seed is the Lord Jesus Christ who was foreshadowed in the before, in the preceding events.

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    Well, you know, we might say, well, hold on, wait a second. We didn't read anything about Jesus in Genesis 14. How can you say that we just read about the seed foreshadowed? Where was he in that? Well, when we go back to Genesis 14, there's more to the account. You see, as Abraham returns home, a man named Melchizedek, who is termed the king of Salem, comes out to meet Abram with bread and wine.

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    And that seems innocuous enough. You know, here's this man coming out with bread and wine. But there's more to it than that, than just this surface reading. Because Melchizedek is a man whose name, you know, just happens, right, to mean king of righteousness. It's a title that happens to be a title that will be used by Jesus Christ when he reigns in Jerusalem as a king priest.

31. 13:22

    And Salem, as you may know, is an ancient name of the city of Jerusalem. Salem meaning peace. So, you know, there's more than just kind of a similarity or coincidence there. I believe we're meant to see in this, you know, a foreshadowing of Christ. You know, this account depicts Abram. After he has defeated a northern host, he is then blessed by a man who foreshadows Christ and accepts from his hands bread and wine.

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    And brothers and sisters, this mirror is a picture that is to unfold in the near future. Now, remember that in Luke chapter 22 and verse 18, Jesus said that he would not partake of the bread and wine until when? Until the kingdom would come. Now, in that day, Abraham will be there, he and his whole house, they'll be there following the destruction of an invader who has come from the uttermost parts of the north, who has led a confederacy against the land of Israel.

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    Once again, the Lord Jesus, acting in the role of Melchizedek, as Melchizedek did, he will offer bread and wine as a symbol of the great victory over sin and death. So here in Genesis 14 and 15, this instance of the phrase, after these things, is an instructive example of the work of Jesus as the promised seed, a king of righteousness who will share bread and wine with his friends once more following a great victory.

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    And that's just in this first instance. The second instance I wanted to look at is in a reading this morning, in John chapter 21.

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    And in that first verse there, we read, after these things, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. And on this wise, showed he himself. And the Sea of Tiberias is simply another name for the Sea of Galilee or Lake Kinnereth, Kinnereth as it's also referred to in the New Testament.

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    So what is the, these things? after these things that we read? Well, the previous chapter is what? It's the resurrection of Christ, isn't it? The discovering of the empty tomb, the revealing of Christ to his disciples, the faithlessness of Thomas, and then the restoration of that faith. And were it not for that resurrection of Christ, our faith would be in vain and we of all men would be most hopeless.

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    But for all intents and purposes, John chapter 20 appears to be a conclusion. And as Ryan read this morning, verses 30 and 31, and many other signs truly to Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life through his name.

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    Now my Bible that I have, that's the end of the chapter there and I turn the page and it's chapter 21. But if I had never read this Bible and I had never read John before, I would get to that and I would say, ah, the end of the book. And I would turn the page and be surprised to learn that it continues.

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    So John 20, in its own right, really reads as a conclusion. And John 21, you know, is sort of like the conclusion to the conclusion. And in other words, we might really say it's an epilogue. Now that makes it all the more pertinent when we realize that it's a second part to that conclusion.

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    It's because it's this epilogue that reveals the eighth and final sign in John's Gospel. Now when we speak of the signs of John's Gospel, and I know we all are well acquainted with the eight signs of John, right? It's really just we're speaking of a miracle and that the miracles in this case, specifically in John, were more than a miracle.

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    Right? They showed more than the miraculous healing itself. There were instructive lessons. There were parables, living parables in these miracles, and therefore they were more than a miracle. They were a sign. And so this eighth sign, this eighth miracle that John records, his Gospel, is here in the conclusion to the conclusion. So it's pretty important.

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    I think it certainly adds an extra degree of significance. So what is it that happens here in this epilogue, in John 21? It is the miraculous catch of fish. And what's interesting is as we're reading this, we're kind of having flashbacks to the beginning of Christ's ministry when we say to ourselves, well, wait, didn't this already happen?

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    A miraculous catch of fish and the nets were filled and they needed help to bring all the catch into shore? And so there's a wonderful symmetry there. And there's a lesson in that itself, which unfortunately we're not going to consider this morning, but other than to point out there are significant differences that make these two happenings very different cases.

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    So we read the account this morning and what happened is that in John 21, following the resurrection, Simon Peter decides to go fishing on the Sea of Tiberias. He was joined by six other disciples in Galilee, as you'll recall, was where Jesus had told his disciples he would meet them. So they were probably here in the vicinity of Galilee waiting for Jesus to catch up with them.

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    And in the meantime they decide, well, we'll go out fishing. And it was typical, it was common for sailors to fish all night so it wasn't any special circumstance, it was just that that was what they did. But they fished all night and they caught nothing. And typically they probably would have caught a lot of fish, maybe not as many as they did end up catching, but usually they would have had something which is why they go fish at night because there's fish to be caught at night.

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    But here they didn't catch any fish which I suggest was not typical. So when morning came and they're still toiling on the boats, a man from shore called out to see if they had caught any meat is what the King James Bible will say. But when you really look into that question, what Jesus is asking is, have you caught any fish?

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    And he knew the answer to that question as did the disciples. They didn't catch anything. And they didn't know who this man was at this point. And this man, Jesus, he tells them to cast the net on the right side of the ship. It wasn't cast the net. It wasn't cast the net to the left side or to the back or to the front.

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    It was cast the net to the right side of the ship. And that's important and we'll come back to that. But they did. And they caught so many fish that this was a dead giveaway who the man was. And they immediately knew it was their Lord Jesus. Peter threw himself into the water and swam to shore and we can imagine him rushing over there.

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    And when the other disciples came to shore, they found that a fire had been made. There was fish and there was bread that had been prepared and they shared a meal.

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    So then, this, after these things, after the resurrection of Christ, who was the promised seed, there is a harvesting of fish. And we say, well, where's the lesson in that? You just caught some fish, right? They already caught fish a hundred times. a thousand times. What's the significance in catching fish? Well, here in this case, the first clue in what the fish represent is we think back to when Jesus first called Peter and Andrew.

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    And what was it that he said to them? He said to them, I will make you fishers of men. And I want to also bring your attention to Matthew 13, verses 47 and 48. And Jesus said, Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea and gathered of every kind, which when it was full, they drew to shore and sat down and gathered the goods into vessels, but cast the bad away.

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    So it was catching fish of every kind, right? In the kingdom of heaven being compared to a net. And what's interesting is in contrast to the Luke 5 account where at the beginning of Jesus' ministry they caught fish where the net break. Here in this case, did you catch the difference? None of the fish got away.

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    The nets didn't break. They caught them all. Big fish. Of every kind. They were all good. And now as we said about the side of the boat being important, he cast it on the right side of the boat. And that also was intentional. Because do you remember what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 25 in verse 33 and verse 34?

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    On what side were the sheep gathered to the Heavenly Father, to the hand of the Heavenly Father? What side was that? It was the right side, wasn't it? So we're really starting to see things come together here. What this is a picture of. It's evident, right, that this sign is about those who receive salvation at the return of Christ.

55. 23:33

    Those to whom grace is shown. And did you catch also the record talks about how many fish were caught? It wasn't they caught a bunch of fish. It was they caught exactly 153 fish. Not 152. Not 154. 153. Why? Why would we get a detail like that? And we might say, well, you know, the exact reason is not important and that's fine and we can accept that.

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    but there have been reasons suggested for the exact number 153. One of those was there's a specific Greek lexicon that if you look and it says there's 153 instances in the New Testament where grace occurs. And so it's suggested that it's intended to parallel that. But then you look at another lexicon and it's, you know, 158 or something.

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    It's not exact so I don't know that we can necessarily hang our hat on that being the reason. There's some other reasons that go into the dramatic of specific words and how it adds up to 153 and in that there is the lesson of grace. But I think putting that aside and it's not to say any of that is wrong but for our purposes this morning what we want to point out is that the most important part of this is that it's a specific number.

58. 25:01

    It's a number known to our Heavenly Father and none of them were lost. And I think that's where we need to have our specific thoughts drawn to when we say 153. It's whatever that exact reason may be for that number. It is a specific number and none of them were lost. Now this sign was given after Christ was raised from the dead.

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    After these things because it is a picture of the events to occur after Christ returns. So this instance of the phrase after these things shows the results of those who heeded the call of the gospel that was first preached by the Lord Jesus and that is salvation through the name of Christ. And that is the sign that is the lesson behind the sign eighth sign of John.

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    So as we begin to draw our thoughts to a close we move on to our third occurrence. And what's interesting that the first expression or the first occurrence we looked at in Genesis was the first place in the Bible where after these things occurred and as we move now to our third reference it happens to be the last time in the Bible we see the expression after these things.

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    And that's in Revelations chapter 19 in verse 1. And we read And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven saying Alleluia salvation and glory and honor and power unto the Lord our God. So what is the these things that it's referring to? Well these things we read in the previous chapter that it was the destruction of the enemies of Christ.

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    The destruction of the image that we read about in Daniel chapter 2. Christ is that great stone formed without hands which struck the feet of the image grinding it to powder and in its place the kingdom of Christ is to be established. And that is the that is the what's described prior to this reference of after these things.

63. 27:33

    So Revelations 19 in verses 5 and 7 goes on to say And a voice came up out of the throne saying Praise our God all ye his servants and ye that fear him both small and great. And I heard as it were the voice of a multitude and as the voice of many waters and as the voice of mighty thunderings saying Alleluia for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him for the marriage of the lamb is come and his wife hath made herself ready.

64. 28:08

    So here we see that just as how Abram triumphed over the kings of the north Christ will triumph over his enemies and will once more break bread with his friend Abraham. Christ's work as the seed of the woman in bringing salvation to humanity in crushing the seed of the serpent will nearly be complete at that point.

65. 28:36

    Shortly after this exhortation we will expressly remember our Lord in the sharing of the bread and the wine and in so doing we will remember the grace that we have been shown and the hope that has been granted through us through his life and work. And after this memorial service God willing we will attend another and another and so on our life will continue as we wait for the point when we will be gathered like those great fishes caught in the net when finally we will experience the after these things of our daily life now.

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