(Happenings Ahead) the Mighty Moment of Christs Return — Willie Mullan

They'll mail Quintet with us this evening. They're great friends of this meeting. When we had the mission here, and we had 1 ,300 people night after night, these and the Richards and sisters were the messengers of the gospel during that whole campaign.

And we welcome them back. We have them here for a very special reason this evening. I'll tell you about it after they bring you a message in song. Thank you. I preach tonight in keeping with the message he has on his mind.

And we'd like to sing a piece which reminds us of the death, the birth, the death, the resurrection, and the coming again of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we would ask you tonight, friends, can such a Savior depend on you?

The Denials, Demands, and Dangers of the Last Days

This evening, in looking ahead for the past four weeks now, three weeks past, we have been trying to get this great subject off the ground. Last week we were still on the runway. You remember we began by talking about the denials of the last day.

You know, I think before I go any further, this bow's got to go. I'm good looking in the bow, but I'm far better looking without it. I could never stick that all night. And I'll tell you, it gets much hotter.

The effect that I gave at the beginning will really be... Never mind about the old bow. Don't lose it. It's buttoned down. First week in this series, we were looking at the denials of the last days, and we found that men were going to have a form of godliness.

There is, of course, going to be a big universal fact. They're going to have a form of godliness, but they're going to deny the power. They won't want Christ, not his Word, not his Spirit. And we went into the denials of the last day, and then the next week we looked at the demands of these last days on belief.

One of the great demands that God is making upon us is this, that in the last days, men will have a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. And the next four words are these, from such turn away of separation.

And God is demanding from every believer in the last days, demanding separation, from such turn away. That is not unity, that is not uniting, that is getting out and keeping us, and staying us, from such turn away.

We looked at the denials, we looked at the demands. Last week we looked at the dangers of the last days, great many dangers, as it was in the days of Noah. And we looked at that Noah 8 nightmare last week, as it was in the days of Lot.

We looked at that Sodomite saga, the story of Sodom, last Tuesday. Now, having looked at the details, and looked at the denials, and looked at the demands, and looked at the dangers, now we're lifting off the runway this evening, and we're really looking at happenings ahead now.

Christ’s Return for Living Believers

Going to have a whole night tonight, on the moment, let's have it, the moment of Christ's return. I'm not thinking about anything else, you know, just that wonderful, mighty, marvellous moment, just the moment.

And then, of course, I've got to cut it down further. We're looking at the moment of Christ's return for living believers on earth. Want you to get that bit into your mind too? Because we've got to go further next week, and we've got to look at the moment of Christ's return for the bodies that lie in the grave.

What will that moment mean to the bodies of believers? What will it mean to the bodies of unbelievers? What will that moment mean to the spirit in heaven? What will that moment mean to the Jews, the nation of Israel, I mean?

Yes, we'll be looking at that next week, but tonight we're contenting ourselves just to look at that moment, what it means for believers on this planet. What it would mean if Jesus came just now. Now, let's go to 1 John this evening.

1 John, and the third satrapy. 1 John, satrapy, verse 1. John is using this great word, behold. He's trying to get the eyes of all the believers fixed and fashioned upon something. He says, behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.

You know, this is a very wonderful thing, that every believer here this evening, we're in the family of God. In fact, we were predestined through the adoption of sons. Now are we the sons of God. What a wonderful thing.

He says, behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us not. And it differentiates greatly here between us and the world.

And it knoweth us not because it knew him not. And it brings it in closer. He says, beloved, talking to all the believers, of course, now are we the sons of God. He's thrilled with this. And it doth not yet appear what we shall be.

But we know that when he shall appear, what a moment. Now this is the bit. When he shall appear, we shall see him. Ah, that will be the moment when we see him. My, if that moment were to take place before this meeting ends, and the Lord Jesus should step from yon throne into the air, and shout, every one of his sheep upon earth would hear the shepherd's voice.

And you know, as we would rise, my, we would see him. You know, we have talked about him. And we have sat and thought about him. And we have read about him. And we have preached about him. But we have never really seen him.

Only by this. What a moment it would be. My, every doubt will be gone. Never had any lingering in me at some moment. Just to look on a step. What a moment it would be. The same Jesus, the one who walked from the sea of Galilee.

It will be the moment when we shall see him. Now, I want you to get this and put it beside it. Let's go to 1 Corinthians, chapter 15. 1 Corinthians, chapter 15. Paul is writing here to the believers in the church at Penance.

Verse 50. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 50. Now this I say, brethren. And he always puts this little word, brethren, in here in these writings, just to remind his own heart that he is talking to his brethren in the faith.

I know that there were many after Corinth that criticized him, and did all sorts of things to say about him. His bodily presence was weak, some said, and his speech was contemptible. And they really challenged his apostleship.

But the Lord has said so many things, you know, when writing, he always says, brethren. And sometimes his heart goes just a little bit further and says, my beloved brethren. Good thing when we're talking to one another that we remember that we're brethren and sisters in the Lord.

Now this is what he says to the believers. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Now that's a great statement for all you young students, because you're going to come up against a lot of arguments about the kingdom of God.

I've heard these all my life. I want you to get the hold of this when you take this book in your hands, and you begin thinking about the kingdom of God. But you'll be very careful with it, because way back in Romans, I read that the kingdom of God is joy and peace in the Holy Ghost.

That's perfectly true, too. Because that's thinking on the kingdom of God in a spiritual sense. It's within me. Oh, I have peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, all right. But you know what Paul is saying here?

He is saying flesh and blood cannot. So there must be something different here. Because while I enjoy the spiritual side of the kingdom of God teaching, I'm still flesh and blood. Yes, you know, I'm just a mortal.

So you see, this kingdom of God, it's in different senses in the book. Sometimes you come against it, it's a spiritual sense. Sometimes you come against it, it's an eternal sense. And it's the eternal sense that he's speaking about.

You know, you can't go to live in the kingdom of God eternally while you're flesh and blood. Flesh and blood cannot. I think you would understand that, wouldn't you? Because while you remain flesh and blood, you're a mortal.

The animating force of this body tonight is blood. And you shed my blood and I die, I'm a mortal. And as a mortal, flesh and blood, I cannot inherit the kingdom of God eternally, having to be changed.

That's what he's talking about. And I'll tell you this, you don't only get it in the spiritual sense, and you don't only get it in the eternal sense, you get it in the millennial sense. Aye, for a thousand years.

And you want to watch out for it. Now you can see quite clearly that he's talking about the eternal sense. He says flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. To back it up, he says, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Then he begins to explain what he's talking about. He said, behold, I show you a mystery. We believers shall not all sleep. And he's talking about death. We believers shall not all die. But we shall all be changed.

And then he says, in a moment. Why, he was thinking about the moment that we're thinking about. You know, when the Lord stops from yonder and enters the air and shouts, we'll not only see him, but I promise you, we shall be changed.

My, this mortal would immediately put on immortality. I would become immortal right away. What a wonderful thing it would be. But it's not that bit that I'm after. I want you to see what he said quite clearly.

He said, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last chance. You know, I like that bit, because what Paul is saying is saying, you know, we need to be changed if we're going to live eternally with God.

He said, you know, I'll tell you this, we'll not all sleep, you know, we'll not all die. We'll all need this change. And I'll tell you this, it will happen in the moment, in the twinkling of an eye. If you look at your dictionary, a wink is two movements of the eyelid, one down and one up.

But a twinkle is just one movement. Very fast. And in a moment, in a split second, actually the word there, for a moment, is the word atom. It's the smallest thing. But what a mighty moment it will be.

Yes. You know, he says, at the last chance. That's the bit I can see quite clearly. You know, he's taking this, this is an old Roman army term. He knew something about the Roman army. Rome was in control when Paul was writing this letter.

And sometimes a unit of the Roman army would go to the outskirts of the empire to quell some rebellion. And when they had done the job, they may be all cuddled into the tents at night, and the trumpet would sound.

And they were trained, you know. The moment the trumpet sounded, sounded, every man got outside the tent and stood to attention just outside. And then a second trumpet would sound. And immediately it sounded, they took down the tent, rolled them up, put them on their back, got all their equipment by their sides, formed into line.

And then what is called the last trumpet sounded. And they turned either right or left, and marched away. And you know, one of these days, the Lord will step out of heaven, under their house. We shall see Him.

We shall be trained, and the saints will go marching in. What a moment it will be. What a moment. I'll not be a hoof left behind, every belief. Yes. My, our salvation is nearer than when we believed. We were looking at that the other week.

But it's salvation. I want you to put this bit beside that. He said to me, verse first to three, he said, for this corruptible, that's this body of mine, this corruptible, must put on incorruption. This mortal flesh of mine, it must put on immortality.

I want you to get a hold of that, you know. You know, when we lay in old tent to rest, and we see the coffin going away down into the bottom of the grave. Many times I've stood with the Bible in my hand, and watched that coffin being slowly lowered.

And I knew that the body inside was being buried in that hole, because it was going into corruption. You can't keep it. The authorities wouldn't allow you, and you wouldn't want to keep it after a while.

It's going into corruption. And I knew when I looked in many times, if the Lord Jesus just came at that second, that corruptible would put on incorruption, but we'll keep that for next week. This mortal, standing looking in, this mortal would immediately put on immortality.

Oh, what a moment that would be. But that's not what I'm after. He said this, in verse 54, all this is a verse to mark with red ink, so when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then, when, I want you to get the two words in the text, so when, when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then, not before that, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory.

You know there's a song in the Old Testament, and we'd like this, Oh, death, where is thy sting? Oh, grave, where is thy victory? You know, I think that sometimes we begin singing this too soon. I've often attended the funeral out of respect for someone, and I hear the minister standing at the grave, and he says, Oh, death, where is thy sting?

And the man's dead. Make me no mistake about it, the man's dead. And I hear him saying, Oh, grave, where is your victory? And they're filling the grave in. He's starting the song too soon. The book that you're reading out, it says, when, when this mortal in the box has put on immortality, when, when this corruptible in the box has put on incorruption, when this mortal standing outside the grave has put on immortality, my, just then, at that moment, when a moment it will be, the song will really begin.

You know, I believe that when Jesus steps into the air, and we see him, and the folk go marching in, you know, as the corruptible body keeps on incorruption, and the mortals that are alive when Jesus comes puts on immortality, you know, as they go up into the air, I think that the whole crowd will turn round and look down, and those who have left this world without dying, these mortals that have put on immortality, who haven't tasted of sleep and death, might as well look back and say, oh death, where is your victory?

And the boys that come out of the dust and say, oh grave, oh, where is your victory? No, we're out. Don't be singing it too soon, because at that moment we shall see him. At that moment, the saints will go marching in.

At that moment, the song that will be eternally ours will begin. Isn't it a wonderful thing that we shall sing at that moment? But I want you to get this bit, put this bit to it. See verse 65, oh death, where is thy sting?

Oh grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, at that moment we'll only praise the Lord Jesus alone.

I think this is a great thing. You know, you would never think of praising a denomination because you had passed out of this world without dying. You'd never say the bastards did that for me, would you?

You'd be as fool as you did. You would never say that some creed had done that for me. You'd never give the honour to a creed. You'd never say that I've escaped the grave and I have conquered death just because of our denomination or our creed.

You would never give the glory to Mary even, would you? You'd never think of it. My Mary wouldn't save me from dying, and Mary won't conquer the grave. Oh, when we get to that moment, you know, man will just praise the Saviour alone.

Nobody else will say, thanks be unto God which giveth us the victory over death in the grave from Christ. And nobody else will give a peck of a glory. And that's the moment when we'll praise the Saviour alone.

The Lord’s Table: Commemoration, Identification, Proclamation, and Anticipation

I want you to get this edge of your mind too. Let's go back a chapter or two. First Corinthians chapter 10. Chapter 11, please. First Corinthians chapter 11. I think this is very beautiful. Read a word or two just to get everything properly into our mind.

Verse 23. Paul, writing to the church at Corinth, said, for I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you, this do in remembrance of me.

After the same manner also he took the cup when he had stopped saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood, this do ye as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do shall the Lord death till he come.

Therefore, whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord onwardly shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. You know, it's a great portion. It's talking to us about this urge of drinking bread and drinking wine.

And I stood up at the table last Sunday morning. We've got an open table and we've got a lot of preachers here, or a couple of dozen who can minister God's word. Sometimes I just take the notion and minister when I feel God wants me to.

And last Sunday morning at the table I talked to this assembly about this act of drinking bread and drinking wine. I pointed out that it was an act of commemoration. We're remembering the Lord's death.

Yes, it's an act of commemoration. Then I pointed out that it was an act of identification. You don't sit at this table and drink this bread and drink this wine unless you identify yourself with the cloth of Calvary.

This is an act of identification. And then I pointed out that it's an act of proclamation. The gospel is eat this bread and drink this cup. You do so, the Lord's death, you proclaim to the world the Lord's death.

I like that phrase, the Lord's death. I like to sit down at times and remember that I was a down and out sinner, a poor tramp without shoes. But the Lord died for me. Not some wee fellow, not somebody trying to do me a good service.

Let me get it over to you now. The Lord, the Lord, the Lord of glory died for me. I make no other argument of it. I speak no other truth. He said he died. But the Lord of glory died. But he died for me, like proclamation.

You see, this act is an act of commemoration, and it's an act of identification, and it's an act of proclamation. Ah, but it's an act of anticipation. You know, as often as we eat this bread and drink this wine, my, we do so, the Lord's death.

Listen to it. Hell, peace, hope. You know, when he comes to the earth, if he steps out now, my will see him, and the saints will go marching in, and the eternal song will be raised, and we'll only take the table, and the spoon board will disappear.

You know, this table, this wonderful table, you know, it goes from the cross, to the coming. That's what measures this dispensation. The table measures the dispensation. You can't so forth, the Lord's death, till the Lord hath died.

Yes, this is what the church is doing, mighty commemorating. It's in remembrance, you know, something that has really happened. And it goes from the cross, to the coming. After he comes, my resembles will be no more.

Yes, we'll not need anything to remind us. When we look at his lovely face, we'll always remember his love. When we see him as the righteous judge, from the cross, we'll always remember his life. He was Scottish.

When we see the marks of the nails in his hand, we'll always remember Calvary. Oh, yes, the table will be gone. Yes, what a moment it will be. It will be the moment when we shall see him as he is. It will be the moment when the saints go marching in.

The God of Peace and Christ’s Victory

It will be the moment when songs shall truly, eternally begin. It will be the moment when the saviour alone shall be praised. It will be the moment when the symbols shall disappear. Now, I think that this is one of the greatest questions, shall I say, of that moment.

Let's have a look at Romans, chapter 16. Do you see what it says? Romans, chapter 16, verse 20, this is a great verse, and the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. You know, that's an amazing statement that the God of peace is going to bruise Satan under our feet shortly.

You know, I like the whole phrase, the God of peace. When you go through the New Testament, you don't find this phrase too often. I think the phrase, as it says here in Romans, is only three times in the New Testament.

It's here in chapter 16. I think it's in chapter 15, too. Have a look at chapter 15. Do you see what it says? Verse 13, Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit that is thrived together with me in your prayers to God for me, that I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judea, that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints, that they may come unto you with joy by the will of God and may wish you be refreshed.

Now, the God of peace be with you all. Remember, at the end of the letter to the Hebrews, when he was talking about the resurrection of Christ, it says the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep.

Now, this is a great phrase, this God of peace. When you think of the God of peace bringing again from the dead the Lord Jesus and bringing him from the dead as the great shepherd of the sheep. You know, this phrase, the God of peace, is talking about a satisfied God.

I want you to get that because that's very important. You think when God, the God of peace, brought our Lord Jesus from the dead, you know, he was absolutely satisfied with the work of redemption that had been accomplished on the cross.

I think it goes further than that. He was absolutely satisfied with the propitiation of this work of redemption belongs to us believers, and this work of propitiation is the work of the cross Godward that satisfied every demand, every holy, just demand of a holy, inflexible God.

But I think it goes further. It is not only that he's satisfied with the work of redemption and satisfied with the great work of propitiation, but he's satisfied with the groundwork of reconciliation.

I think this is the bit we need to get the hold of. Sometimes we sing a hymn here, and I love every part of it, only one line, because there's one line of it that says, God is reconciled. And I'm not in agreement with that.

I don't think that God needs to be reconciled to anybody. I don't think he fell out with anybody. I don't think God is a rebel. I don't think God is an enemy of anybody. I don't think he needs to be reconciled.

I know that we were rebels, and I know that we were enemies, and I know that we were sinners, and I know that we need to be reconciled to God. And I know the only groundwork upon which we can be reconciled to God is the death of his son.

Reconciled to God by the death of his son. You see, God is looking at this groundwork, and it's the groundwork of reconciliation that perfectly satisfies him. Therefore, when we come as rebels, sinners, prowlers, outcasts of humanity, and throw ourselves upon the wood of the cross, then we can be reconciled to God by the death of his son.

You see, because the Lord Jesus has so perfectly laid this groundwork of reconciliation, God brings him back from the dead a conqueror. Conqueror over death. My, when he arose! Sometimes they sing that old hymn, and it annoys me.

He tore the bars away. Ah, below me. He tore no bars away. I have to break an oath. He didn't break anything. He defeated the thing. Oh, this is not great, you know. Oh, none of that sacrifices. My, the Lord Jesus conquered death, avoided death.

Conquered with his feet. Talking about a broken oath. Oh, no. He was a conqueror. You know, Paul is writing to the Romans, chapter 16, about those unbelievers among the Jews. He says, in verse 31, that I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judea.

Mind you, when you get clever men, educated men, intelligent men, who are really unbelievers, you've got a very difficult job to work with. You know, I worked with a surgeon, and I think he was the most famous surgeon this land ever had.

And yet, you know, away down in his heart, he wasn't sure of God, or heaven, or anything. And he was the most difficult character to approach. My, he would just turn away and say nothing. No matter what sort of a narrow you fired at his heart.

So hard to get this unbelief of terrible things. Very hard to work with unbelievers. These Jewish unbelievers in Judea, who didn't believe that Christ was the Messiah, who didn't believe that the cross work was the finish of all the types in Judah, who didn't believe that Christ rose again, who didn't believe that Christ was working a working man's heart.

Paul knew he was up against it. And he's trying for these believers at Rome to pray for him, that he might conquer unbelief, and the God of peace, is the one who can make him conquer unbelief. You know, the God of peace is going to brood, taking, heartless, onto your feet.

I wouldn't mind being your king's pawn, Daniel. When it happens, you'll be on the right side of it. My, if you had the devil onto your feet, you wouldn't care wherever you were. My, what a day it will be.

What a moment. When, for the very first time, the old serpent will be on the right side, and it will conquer it. What a moment. It will be the moment when you sing it. It will be the moment when the saints go marching in.

It will be the moment when the eternal song will begin. It will be the moment when Christ alone shall be praised. It will be the moment when the thimbles disappear. It will be the moment when Satan shall be bruised under our feet.

What a moment. Yes, the God of peace is the one who is satisfied to make you more than conqueror, made Christ conqueror of the grave, made Paul the conqueror of unbelief, and will make up believers the conquerors of heaven.

The New Jerusalem and the End of Sorrow

You know, it's a great moment if you look at it from the angle of Revelation 21. Let's have a look at this. You know, this is thrilling here. This is the New Jerusalem. You remember the Lord Jesus in the upper room, and you remember him talking to his disciples and saying, I go to prepare a place for you.

He's been away 1 ,900 years preparing this place. It's our eternal home. One day in a Bible class here, I looked at all the dimensions, and I looked up the consolations, and I looked up the illuminations and the congregations of our great eternal home.

I don't want to go into that tonight, but I want you to see exactly what will happen at the moment when Jesus comes to take us to the home he has prepared. Revelation 21, verse 1, John says, I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.

There was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men.

He will dwell with them. They shall be his people. God and his church shall be with them and be their God. And here are some of the consolations of the new home. God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

I think that's a great thing, isn't it? No more tears. No more sitting down and weeping because of the disappointment of earth. My, there'll be no disappointment in heaven. None at all. None whatsoever.

The old hymn writer said, There'll ne 'er be a creep on the doorknob. No funeral train leaves the sky. There are no graves on the hillside of glory. For there we shall nevermore die. You know, the first thing we're going to enjoy, no disappointment, no tears, no sitting down and weeping about anything.

Watch this. There shall be no more death, no disappointment, no bereavement. What a wonderful land it will be. My dear friend, no disappointment, no bereavement. Watch this. Neither sorrow. You know, there will be no lament.

My, I saw a woman today, just this very day. In fact, I met her just outside the church and put my hand out of the car and then she stopped and leaned in the door. My, she was spoken about. Oh, what shall we tell her just a few days ago in the car trunk?

Lean in and you could see the very lamentation of our soul written on her face. There will be no lamentation in heaven. No disappointment, no bereavement, no lament. I'll tell you this, neither sorrow nor crying.

There'll be no bewilderment in us. Yes, somebody told me just a week or two, you know, the things that have happened around our home, they have bewildered us. How will there be no bewilderment in heaven?

No disappointment, no bereavement, no lament, no bewilderment. See that last one? Neither shall there be any more pain, no more torment. Oh, God is going to be sick back today. My, that's the moment, you know, when all our sicknesses have gone for us.

When the psalmist is praising the Lord in Psalm 103, he says, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. He said, You know, you have forgiven us, all our iniquities. What a wonderful thing.

Lord, you have redeemed our life from destruction. You know, some of us can stand here tonight, and we can look up, and we can say, You have forgiven us, all our iniquities. They're all blessed now. And, you know, we could look back, and we can say, Lord, you have redeemed our life from destruction.

Where would we have been? And we can look forward, because the text and the text is looking forward. Thou wilt eventually heal all our diseases, and in heaven, no more pain. God, so I tell you, what a moment this is going to be.

Conformity to the Image of Christ

You know, I don't think that we can kick it in properly. All that will happen in that mighty, marvellous moment. There'll be no more sickness, and there'll be no more death. You know, I tried to hide a little bit when I was at 1 John, because I wanted to keep it to the end.

Have a look at 1 John chapter 3 again. And in verse 2, John says, Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear. Now, this is the bit that I skipped over.

We shall be like him. You know, I think that's an amazing thing. Let's turn back to Romans chapter 8 and follow this properly, because this is the truth. I think we need to get settled in our hearts, because it's settled so many problems through life.

You know, we always go back to this Romans 8 and 28, and why wouldn't we? Romans 8 and 28 says,. And we know, we believers ought to know, that all things work together for good to them that love God. There's another translation of that that says,.

We know that God worketh all things together for good to them that love him. It's the same thing, but there it is clearer. God is working everything together for them that love him. You see, there's a people in the center of the text, them that love him.

And then I want you to get this bit, For them who are the cohort according to his purpose. You know, he has a purpose for that people. You know, this is the thing we must get settled. You know, when God called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, you know, God has a purpose for them, he calls.

Now, this is the purpose. I want you to get the purpose. It says in verse 29,. For whom he did foreknow. You see, God is bound to know everything. You can't take me back to a place in eternity past if you let me use the phrase.

You can't take me back there to a place when God didn't know. God always knew, always knew that I would be saved from all eternity. Foreknew that. And then he foreknew he did predestinate. Now, I want you to get the purpose.