The coming of the Lord for His saints
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…
Beginning at verse 1.
He likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the Bridegroom.
And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
Those that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them.
But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
While the Bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him.
Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out.
But the wise answered to say, Not so, lest there be not enough for us and you.
But go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
And while they went to buy, the Bridegroom came.
And those that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut.
Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour, wherein the Son of Man cometh.
And the last sentences of the book of God, Revelation chapter 22, verse 16.
I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches.
I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come.
And let him that is here say, Come.
And let him that is at first, Come.
And whosoever will, let him take the walk of life freely.
For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book.
If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book.
And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy,
God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city,
and from the things that are written in this book.
He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly.
Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
I believe that my theme this evening is to be the coming of the Lord for his saints.
And, in particular, I would like to deal with an inquiry that in many of us, with many of us, does arise,
and might easily arise of all of us, perhaps we ought to consider it seriously.
And that is, since the prophetic events that have been made known to us from the Holy Scripture
are already so far advanced, does this show that we have been wrong in expecting the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ
as something which we would expect daily?
I mean by that to be a little more precise at this early stage.
I mean by that that I'm sure I have got the impression from reading the writings of some of those
who, first of all, were given light from God, to see this truth of our daily expectation of the coming of the Lord
as a prime factor in Christian living, that they would have expected that the coming of the Lord Jesus for his saints,
for example, would have taken place before the reassembling of God's people and the establishment of a state of Israel.
And it is possible that some of us may be disturbed about this consideration,
and I'm sure that it would be a good thing for us to look more carefully at it.
Now, the parable of the wise and the foolish virgins is one concerning which I feel the general trend of the meeting is quite clear.
And, of course, I shall only be able to speak about the main lines,
because, you see, it does clearly set before us the fact that the personal expectation
of the coming of the Lord Jesus to meet his own was lost entirely over the greater part of the history of the Church.
You see, in the first verse, we read about these ten virgins that they had marks,
which are the marks, some of the marks, of a true Christianity.
They took their lamps, and that is, they had a witness, a testimony.
Secondly, they went forth, and that was separation, and they went forth to meet the Bridegroom.
And from the very beginning, it should have been a prime source of inspiration and hope and courage for the people of God
that they were going out on a course, the end of which could very quickly come,
and that was their meeting with the Bridegroom.
In the scripture days, it must have been perfectly plain that this is so.
When the saints were in sorrow, they were told to comfort each other with this certainty.
The Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout.
The voice of the archangel and the trump of God, the dead in Christ, shall rise first.
Then, we which are alive remain.
He expected that the Lord Jesus Christ would come quickly.
Now, of course, an unbelieving liberal theologian will say, he was mistaken.
The Lord didn't come. He was wrong to expect it, did he?
On the other hand, it is very plain for anyone who simply reads the scriptures
that the Lord did intend that the momentary expectation of his coming again
should be that which would stimulate us to a greater faithfulness in his absence.
For these virgins have the marks of a true Christianity,
that is, in the figurative language of the parable.
I must go immediately down to verse 5.
While the Bridegroom carried, they all slumbered and slept.
The true and the false, those with the Holy Spirit and without the Holy Spirit,
they all slumbered and slept, regarding the fact that the Bridegroom was coming.
In other words, on this cardinal pact of the revelation of God and of our piety,
day by day, the whole Church lost the expectation.
And this, of course, was true until a period in the thirties of the last century,
when, without the slightest doubt, it became apparent from the Word of God
that the Lord was awakening his people to the recovery of that personal expectation.
I don't suppose that any of us have not been moved in our hearts
by the tremendous devotion of a Samuel Rutherford.
In that long, long poem written by Mrs. Cousin, based upon the final words of Samuel Rutherford,
I don't suppose that, outside Scripture, the language of true devotion to the Lord Jesus
and the language of delight in his love has been ever more beautifully portrayed than in those words.
And the expectation of being with the Lord.
But there's not a trace in it of his expectation that this would allow the Lord to come.
It is entirely filled with the thought that his expectation is that he would die.
Well, it's easy for a kind of cynical disbelief to say, well, he did die.
And all the saints, the majority of the saints have died.
Yes, this is true.
But the Lord did intend that right through the immediate hope of his coming
should be a means of stimulus to us.
It should be the means of comfort to those in sorrow.
It should be the means of stimulus to those serving him.
For it was in view of his coming again that the Lord said, occupy till I come.
They all slumbered and slept.
But we read in verse 6 that at midnight there was a cry made, behold the bridegroom.
Now, the word cometh is not strictly speaking justified by the manuscripts,
although it's plausible enough and there's no real harm done by it.
But the midnight cry was, behold the bridegroom.
It drew attention not so much to an event as a person, and that person was coming.
Now, we know, it's a matter of very straightforward and simple history,
that in the 30s of the last century, the truth, not only that Jesus is coming again,
because, of course, the Nicene Creed had said, and people repeated it every week in church,
and they said, from whence he went to sit in heaven, from whence he will come
to judge the quick and the dead.
But the personal immediacy of the Lord Jesus Christ coming, not to be seen by all,
not first of all to reign over all the world, but first of all coming in person for his own.
It was recovered as the hope of the saints, and it was put in the very center of the picture
of the piety of the believers and the church.
Oh, how precious this moment shows itself to be for the Saviour himself.
The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout.
You might think of a householder, and regard, what seems to me at least,
one of the most disturbing things that can happen to him, and that is moving house.
You can think of a householder who puts the whole job into the hands of a contractor,
and says, you pack it all, and you bring it to this place, and you unload it, and you put it in.
But you can imagine a person who felt wealthy enough to do this,
and going down to his old house just as the work was beginning,
and he dialed in upon something that was very specially purchased to him.
And he would say now, don't touch that, I will come for it myself.
Now that's precisely what the Lord Jesus Christ says.
It was a manifestation of the preciousness of the church in the sight of our beloved Saviour
that he said the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout
with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God.
And how precious it is to us in our measure, our measure as people,
in our measure we can say it is precious to us.
The expectation of our meeting the Lord Jesus,
that we desire that it might be made more precious to us,
and the stimulus intended by the Lord in sending this hope before us
might be more vigorously operative in our lives.
It was for our comfort, as I've said,
it was for a stimulus that we should serve him until he comes again,
and also it was to purify us.
He that hath this hope in him, 1 John chapter 3,
him that hath this hope in him purifies himself even as he is pure.
It was intended, this revelation, this hope,
it was intended not to make us serene persons able to chart beforehand the history of the future,
but it was intended to make us disciples filled with that ardor
that comes from a personal response to the Lord Jesus Christ who is coming again.
Well, what I was suggesting a little earlier,
and the thing that I have specially before me this evening as far as time will permit,
is since now, it is 150 years since the Midnight Cry,
and events have moved forward in a way that I would have no hesitation at all in calling staggering, you see,
the way prophetic truth was seen at that period,
and the way events have developed in the Middle East.
There is such a close connection between the two that there is no question at all
that we are seeing before our eyes the fulfillment of Bible prophecy.
You see, it's a very important thing in my eyes, very important thing,
that all this was seen and written down 150 years ago.
It would have been so easy to say, yes, it's easy to say after the event
that Britain will be the power that will restore Palestine,
but it was written down from the Bible 150 years ago.
It's very easy to say after the event that there would not only be a restoration of the people to Palestine,
but there will be a state of Israel.
Oh yes, but it was seen and written down 150 years ago,
and that is a very remarkable evidence that those who did so knew how to read their Bibles.
But they undoubtedly, as I have indicated, would have been surprised
that things have developed quite so far without the Lord Jesus Christ coming to the air.
And how I'm hearing that quickening shout, and how I'm being taken up to be with him,
and going into the Father's house so that where he is, there we should forever be.
Well, is there really something in this to cause disturbance to us if it comes to our attention?
Now, I would like to go over the principal prophetic events,
and as my memory, as I longer cope with being quite certain that I get things in the right order,
I've written down the headings so that I would be quite sure that I would not miss out anything in this important matter.
What I have in mind, you see, is to deal briefly with the prophetic events that we were to expect to happen,
and then to see if we can see from Scripture at what stage in these prophetic events
the rapture of the saints and the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ would take place.
And then we can easily return, you see, to the Scripture we read at the very end of the Bible,
which makes no question at all that right to the very end his people are to expect his coming
as a matter that's to be taking place quickly.
And there still is the last response of the Holy Book to say, even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Now, I would say that the first event in the prophetic history of the end of the age in which we live
would have been the assembly of the Jews to their own land and the formation of a state of Israel.
Now, there are many, many scriptures that promise the restoration of the people of Israel.
Perhaps the most direct is in Isaiah chapter 11, where it says,
the Lord will set his hand to recover a second time his people from the lands of their captivity.
Well, the first time, of course, is when he recovered a remnant of the Jews from Babylon.
And the second time when God will reassemble his people is at the end of the age.
Now, how was it known that there would be a state of Israel?
You understand what I mean by a state? I don't mean condition.
I mean politically it would be a state and not simply a settlement.
Well, we know because in Daniel chapter 9 we are told that it's capable of making a treaty.
Now, a settlement of people could not make a treaty, an international treaty.
We are told that the head of the revived Roman Empire would make a treaty with Israel.
And that's as much as to say that in some way or other we are dealing with a state
and not simply with a collection of persons.
The next event would be the emergence of a remnant of Judah.
Now, this is a matter which has been in my mind and in my heart so important a matter
that I would like to spend just a little bit more time on it.
We'll read in Matthew chapter 24, which is one of the most important and the clearest
outlines with which you could start an understanding of these things.
In Matthew 24 we read that the Lord Jesus Christ is warning his disciples
as to what would come at the end of the age.
The Lord, they had asked this question of the Lord.
What shall be the sign when these things shall come to pass?
What shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the age?
And the Lord Jesus was speaking to his disciples about the end of the age.
And the first thing that strikes you is that although the Lord Jesus is talking to his disciples
when he was here upon earth, nevertheless he speaks to them as though those same persons
would be here when he comes again with the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
In other words, he's speaking to these men as, in a very important sense,
the exact representatives of people who would be upon earth at the end of the age.
Now what was the kind of ecclesiastical standing, if you will forgive the term,
what was the standing of these people?
It was twofold.
There were believers in the Lord Jesus.
And there were Jews.
And they hadn't a single thought of the church.
And the Lord Jesus Christ speaks to them about the events immediately preceding his coming.
He speaks to them of their worship in the temple.
And he speaks to them of their keeping with great devotion the Sabbath day.
In other words, they were just like the very first disciples were, Jews.
But not members of the church.
The first disciples were Jews because the church had not yet been started
by the descent of the Holy Ghost from heaven.
And we can only conclude that the last disciples, the last Jewish disciples,
would be so because the church must have been taken away from heaven.
No one can believe in the Lord Jesus Christ at the present time and remain a Jew.
He's a Jew by birth, but he's not a Jew in any other sense of the term.
He's a member of the church.
And in that church, the barrier of distinction is absolutely gone.
The Lord Jesus Christ, by his birth, has blotted out the wall of distinction
and made a true one.
And that is the church.
The Jew lost his identity and his faith and his religion as a Jew,
and he became a member of the church.
But these, having believed on the Lord Jesus, are still continuing the Jewish faith.
Therefore, we are reading about something which takes place after the rapture of the church.
Now, in a certain sense, I've already given the answer to the question,
but we'll come back to it a little later.
So the second event would be the emergence of a remnant of Jews.
I say a remnant because they're obviously persecuted,
mercilessly persecuted, by the rest of their fellow countrymen.
Therefore, they're only a few.
They're only a part.
And the mass of the people, just as when the Lord was here,
were unbelieving and Christ-rejecting.
And only a few were his people, and so it will be in the end,
because they're addressed as the same persons.
The third thing that we would expect is the emergence of the beast and the false prophet.
Now, by way of explanation, I'm using the exact words of the Revelation.
In chapter 13, we read about a beast who emerges.
It's not known before, but he emerges.
We read about a second beast who also emerges afterwards,
who is afterwards called the false prophet.
So it's a useful distinction to talk about the beast and the false prophet.
Now, we read of this in Revelation chapter 13,
but we read of it especially in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.
2 Thessalonians chapter 2 is the special place.
And the apostle says there,
I beseech you, by the coming of the Lord, and our gathering together to him,
you see, that's the rapture,
that he be not soon shaken in mind by the idea that the day of the Lord is now present.
For that day will not come, except there be an apostasy for us,
and that man of sin be revealed.
Now, I've used the expression the emergence of the beast and the false prophet
to represent the words of the Revelation,
he shall come up out of the sea and the land,
and the words of 2 Thessalonians chapter 2,
the man of sin will be revealed once again.
He must be revealed before the birth, the reign of the Lord Jesus.
It would be desirable to take just a note of the fact
that simultaneous, very closely at the same time,
there must be the emergence of another power,
which we call in Scripture the King of the North.
Now, of course, it will take a long, long time to explain this,
but briefly, it amounts to the fact that whereas
the beast is the head of a revived Roman Empire,
and therefore is a Western power,
a Western power formed by the union of ten kings in the West,
the King of the North is an Eastern power,
and about the same time as these evil personalities emerge in the West,
so the King of the North will emerge in the East.
The next point, the next event,
is clearly described in Daniel chapter 9,
the Prophecy of Weeks, and I would recommend
if you do wish to pursue this matter still further
that you look at it there.
But the great point about that is it says
that the Roman prince who shall come
shall make a covenant,
which of course is the Bible language for a treaty,
he shall make a treaty for seven years
with the mass of the Jews,
not that remnant that I have spoken of,
and in the middle he shall break it
by destroying their worship.
Now, that moment, therefore,
when the end clearly comes into view,
when the countdown begins,
not in seconds as in the case of Kennedy,
but in years according to the Scripture,
the countdown begins by a treaty
made by the new Roman ruler
and the mass of the Jews,
the people there now, you see,
the Bagans, and the others
who form the government of Israel.
They are actually talked about in Holy Scripture,
the scornful men who rule my people in Jerusalem,
there is going to be a treaty
between a head of the Western world
who is yet to emerge,
and also the Jewish state
which has already emerged.
And that treaty is the countdown.
That's the moment when all those
who are on earth, who have read their Bibles,
know that the moment has come
when the countdown begins
and the coming of Christ in power and glory
will be seven years distant.
Now, the next event is,
and we read about it in Daniel 9
and Revelation 17,
I've already made some reference to it,
and that is the absolute destruction
of both the false Christian worship
that remains upon earth,
that is the scarlet woman,
and also the false Jewish worship
that remains upon earth,
that is those who are worshipping
the Temple in Jerusalem,
that the religion of the Jews
and the religion of the Christians
and therefore there will be the apostasy.
All that professes to stand
for the honor of God
will be swept out of the way
and there will be an absolute denial of God.
This is the moment described in Psalm 2
when the people's rage
and the nations say
let us cast his bonds asunder.
It's not merely disbelief,
it's not merely carelessness
that we find now about God,
but the nations of the world
and the nations try to say
against God.
Then there comes Matthew 24,
immediately after that,
the great tribulation.
Such trials fall upon man
that unless God shortens
the human race will be exterminated.
That's my phrase
to stand for the Bible says
if these days are not shortened
no flesh should be saved.
If there was God for them
that human race would be exterminated
so great is that tribulation.
And immediately after that
will be the coming
and the clouds of heaven
and the Lord Jesus Christ
and the absolute destruction
of the Jews and the false prophets.
A rather obscure element
in these events
is the restoration of the ten signs
of Israel and disbelief from the Jews.
But somewhere after
this destruction
we read about the restoration
of the ten signs.
We read also about
the later destruction
of the eastern enemies as well.
For as the destruction
of the western enemies
is like lightning
by the Lord Jesus coming
like lightning from heaven,
the destruction of the eastern enemies
over certainly led by Russia
will be by the Messiah
with a lot of his strength
going forth out of Zion
where he already used to live.
Remember Psalm 110
Sit thou on my right hand
until I make thine enemies thy foes
until the time when I say
send a lot of my strength
out of Zion.
That's the way the last ten
will be destroyed.
Now in that period of events
you see,
it is a question
of the coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And I think the great thing
for us to do
is to see
in those passages
exactly what are
the points
which speak about
the position of the rapture
in this place.
And I will try
to answer
those questions
in this way.
And I will turn
to the passage that I have
several times referred to
and that is 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2.
2 Thessalonians
chapter 2.
It says at the beginning
Now we speak to you brethren
by the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ
and by our coming together
unto him.
But there can be no question
that it refers to the event
described in the first epistle.
And I have already quoted
the first epistle,
chapter 4.
The Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a chariot
not to reign
but to take his own people
to himself
and he has given them
for our comfort.
Now this is another case
of comforting him
and also
the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ
and by our going together
unto him
that he be not too shaken
in mind or troubled
as that the day of Christ
is present
as it does say he should be.
Let no man deceive you
by enemies
for that day shall not come
except they come
a falling away first
and the revelation
of the man of sin
the revelation
of the head of the western world
the revelation of the power
to be destroyed
by the coming
by lightning in the tower
of the heaven of the Lord
Jesus Christ
the revelation of that person
will not take
until the Lord Jesus Christ
has come
and the saints
as the millennial reign
of the Lord Jesus Christ
has come
it cannot come
until the man of sin lives
it is not revealed
it cannot be denied
he might be alive
it cannot be denied
that the person might be alive
upon earth at this time
but it has not been revealed
it has not been
unmasked
and pointed out
in the way that it should be said
he will
and at the last event
then we are
to expect
that the rapture
will take place
before it
however
since he has not yet
been revealed
then there is nothing
at all inconsistent
with the hope
which we have learned
from the Holy Scripture
and it has been
said in that
plain statement
that it's also
the other
the other matter
that I have already
tried to explain
and that is
it's an influence
but to me
an irresistible influence
the influence
it is so powerful
an influence
that it couldn't possibly
be interpreted
in any other way
and that is
if it's been true
that
in the end of the age
there will be
before
that great tribulation
and before
the coming of Christ
in the chalice of heaven
with power
and great glory
if
before that
we find upon earth
Jewish disciples
believing in the Lord Jesus
it's been the truth
that he's gone
it's an influence
and not a precise
statement
but I repeat
it's an influence
so strong
that we must
certainly be intended
to draw it
if at first
these people
they will believe
in the Lord Jesus
but they will not
cease to believe
therefore the church
is gone
it's an influence
which I believe
to be absolutely
unanswerable
it's strong
so we have
a plain statement
on any front
that indicates
that
the rapture of the saints
should not be expected
as the reader
of the bible
it should not be expected
until
so long
I mean
we cannot have missed
it
if the
man of sin
has not been revealed
and we haven't seen
the emergence
of Jewish disciples
who are not
members of the church
this leaves
our thoughts
absolutely
wide open
for us
at the present time
we have seen
the emergence
the restoration
of the Jews
in the emergence
of a state of Israel
but this
is something
from which
there is a slightest
indication
that it should
indicate
that it is
something which
follows
the rapture
of the saints
now
I've several times
spoken
about
the
extraordinary
way
in which
these
events
seem
written down
140
160 years
ago
have already
been fulfilled
as first of all
the state of Israel
that it exists
then
there was
absolutely
nothing
to call this
to be expected
160 years ago
or 100 years ago
to be something
to be expected
the Zionist
movement
which
aimed
the establishment
of a national home
for the Jews
in Palestine
because of their
terrible suffering
in northern Europe
was formed
at the end
of the century
and
it was
formed
in Europe
which was
headed in
various
parts
of the
continent of
Europe
and it only
became established
in England
in the first
world war
when Shane
he was of
such assistance
to the British
government
that they promised
him the
vow of
declaration
that the
British
government
would sponsor
the establishment
of a national
home for the
Jews in
Palestine
therefore
when these
things were
seen in the
scripture
there was
not quite
a cloud
in the sky
to indicate
that those
persecuted
were
not
Jews
but
the
people
are
Jews
and
that
was
the
very
poignant
thing
about it
and I
was
bound to
admit
that if
it had
been left
to me
to interpret
these
scriptures
I would
have
not
been able
to
interpret
them
in the
proper
way
and
I
would
not
have
interpreted
them
in the
proper
way
and
I
would
not
have
interpreted
them
in the
proper
way
and
I
would
not
have
interpreted
them
in the
proper
way
because
I
should
never
speak
these
words
ever again
and
I
should
never
interpret
them
in a
proper
way
because
I
should
never
speak
these
words
ever again
and
I
should
never
interpret
these
words
ever again
and
I
should
never
interpret
these
words
ever again
If you read these verses you will see that
we read that
when the time of the end comes
Israel will be deleted
from the south by Egypt
and the north by Palestine
and the earth by Syria
and that is exactly the situation that we see today
and
when I was
in Germany
a couple of years ago
there were some Egyptian brethren there
and one of the Egyptian brethren
said all of a sudden
that I'm quite sure
according to January 11th
that Egypt will have to be separated from Syria
and I suppose
that we would have to take account of the fact that this is also
another event
which is clearly aligned
with the relationship between Aleppo, Syria and Israel
as set out in Scripture
Now
Nothing at all can make any difference to the fact that
the Lord desires
that the true condition for us today
is just the same as it always was
and that is that we should be
daily and monthly
expecting the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ
Let us look at these verses
in Revelation chapter 22
What we will be doing
is carrying out an extremely brief
and thorough review
of prophetic truth
but when this rough book of Scripture
as whole as it is of prophetic truth
has enrolled itself entirely
then the Lord Jesus
can give this rough witness
a personal witness
to the churches
I believe it
It appears
in many forms
it appears as a lamb
and it hath been slain
Whenever he is seen within
receiving the praise of faith
and angels will read of him as a lamb
and it hath been slain
He appears as a solemn man
and a reaper
of the harvest that is yet to come
but here
all the features
of the person of the Lord Jesus are dropped
and the personal name
is the name under which he now speaks to us
After
these prophetic disclosures
which we will be summarizing
I Jesus have said my name to you
to which the truth will lead you
in the churches
and first of all there is a great emphasis
upon this person
I am Baruch
and the offspring of David
Now a person
in Jewish terms
can only be both Baruch
and the offspring of David
if he was both God and man
The Lord Jesus posed this problem
to the Pharisees when he said
Who son is he?
What say ye of Christ, who son is he?
It's a good thing to use that as a gospel question
but it didn't stand as a gospel question
in the scripture
He said to them, if he was David's son
how can he be David's Lord?
And there were people who would not
accept the fact that this was God
manifesting the fact
and we are reminded
of that great, great glory
of our Saviour that he is both Baruch
and the offspring of David
He is both God and man
and it's one of the many
terse ways of witnessing
in the churches what we must ever hold
most dear and that is the truth
of the perfect deity
and the perfect manhood
of the Lord Jesus
It's also a wonderfully
prophetic statement
the one who is the root of David
is also the offspring of David
the king to whom it was promised
that his hospitality
should sit upon the throne
of Israel and then
the throne of a much wider Israel
than that which has ever been known before
which is the Virgin
the one who said, I Jesus
is the root and the offspring
of David, a central figure
in Bible prophecy
and secondly
is the bright and morning
star
well
there are several references
to the morning star
and I would like to ask
it would be a good thing to turn to
one of them in the
second epistle of Peter
that speaks
about
Peter
speaking about the morning star
talking about the
transfiguration
which is a preview of the
kingdom of the one who is the root
and the offspring of David
end of verse 17
this is my beloved son in whom I
am well pleased
and this voice will hail from heaven we heard
from the Virgin and the Holy Man
we have also
a more sure word of prophecy
whereunto we do well, he said he
will light the planets and the dark place
until the day dawns and the day
stars arise
in other words the first
expectation of the dawning
day for the Christians
is the morning star
who is, who and what
is the morning star
the first glimpse
of the dawning
day after the Christians
night
the first glimpse of the dawning day
of the Lord Jesus at his coming
he said I am
the bright and
the morning star
and then we have in
verse 17
a very wonderful collection
of sentences
because
the response
that the Lord Jesus Christ
desired, the response
that set out in this verse
first of all there is
the spirit operating
in the bride
it isn't only saying it is the spirit
operating in the church
but it says it is the spirit
operating in that body
concerning which it says
that Christ has set his love upon
and Christ
can't satisfy women
and he is going to present himself
to himself a glorious church
it is the spirit
in the bride, the spirit
and the bride, the spirit
in the church in the sense that
his heart is awakened
to the love of the
Lord Jesus Christ, those who
whose hearts
are awakened will say
the sentiment and the love of the bride
are the ones who so
want her
and the response to the Lord
Jesus is the spirit and the bride
say come, since your heart
and the spirit of God
are operating in the church
it will produce the ministry of the word
it will produce the help
and the ministry that we need
it will strengthen us
it will give us the victory in our pathway
that one of the great
things that the spirit acting
in the church will do is to make us say
to the Lord Jesus, come
he meant to show us, come
dear Jesus
and the next sentence says
let him that hear us say come
well there has been a good hearing
spoken about in the spirit
he that hath hear us
let hear us, let him hear
it says at the beginning, and all the ones
from the group, anybody who thinks that they are
coming, you see, of the
prophecies that are given in this group
is also invited, as much
as they will understand
that he is speaking as the spirit
moves in the church, I will not let anyone who hears
the prophecy of this group hear
let them say also, come
let him that hear us say come
and then we have another
come, it's a very
frightening thing for me
there is this very moment
where the purest
and holiest
responsibility of the church
in a lot of crimes I have said before
the spirit and the bride say
come, then
equally the result
of our apprehension
and responsibility will be
outgrowing in the gospel
and the next verse
says, let him that is at first
come and put to the will
let him take the water of life
freely, alongside
immediately parallel
with the immediacy
of his personal hope
of the beauty and the glory
of the saviour who will love us
and there are many people who
will not, alongside
is what to the very end therefore
a cause that we should
be doing in the gospel
that whosoever
will, let him take the
water of life freely
I haven't time to dwell upon
that, but I do hope that we can
get the point, that at the very end
there is no question there being
any promise of some tremendous
revival, there is no
suggestion of there being any promise like that
but there is an indication
that the Lord can see
if at the same time
as we are looking for him to come
we are also holding up
the word of life and the water of life
to those who will be there
and so the Lord Jesus
says to us this evening
he says that with whole
account taken of the course
of prophetic events and how
wonderfully they are being advanced in the
lifestyle of most of us, he says
surely I come quickly
and we are
united
come Lord Jesus
the Lord Jesus Christ
with you all, Amen …