According
to the Pattern of Heavenly Wisdom - Part 2
If
we come to the Scriptures to inquire, "How
long, O Lord" they have but one answer: "When you shall see all these things, know that it is near, even
at the door" (Matthew 24:33). It serves God's purpose and our best
interests to have the matter of exact time left thus indefinite. What
more should we want to know other than that furnished us in the Bible on this
point? Therein we are assured that watchful ones will not be left in darkness
like the unsuspecting world. Through the signs left us by the Lord and His
Apostles, we may know that the culminating hour is at hand, yes, "even at the doors." This is
sufficient for faith, and best calculated to keep us watching with an ever-increasing
interest as these signs become more and more pronounced and clear. It is in
this active spirit of expectation that we may demonstrate our genuine desire to
be of those "whose lamps are trimmed
and burning, whose robes are white and clean.” Heavenly wisdom is with
those thus minded, constraining them to be, most of all, concerned to see to it
that the oil of the Spirit's unction is filling their vessels in needed
supply.
Having in mind these prophetic signs indicating the speedily approaching
end of the present evil order of things, the Apostle Peter's inquiry is in
season. "Seeing that all these
things shall be dissolved, what manner
of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking
for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on
fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?" (2
Peter 3:11, 12). Such statements of Scripture are particularly forceful today.
They should be much in mind and keep us alert and ready for promised developments
fulfilling prophecy, and ready to have some expected events fulfilled in quite
unexpected ways. Has it not been so, repeatedly, in the experience of God's
watching people, and true in our own experience in quite recent years? Not in
vain has the word been given, "Though
it tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not tarry" (Habakkuk.
2:3). This is the Lord's way of giving us an opportunity to reveal the depth of
our interest in His glorious appearing.
With
this thought in mind, let us think of some possibilities peculiar to the
present hour, as we stand on the borderline between closing and opening
dispensations. There are some Scriptures, which should be having our very special
attention in these days. Among these, we can readily call
to mind the
following: "The
night is far spent
and the day is at hand." "Be also patient; establish your hearts: for
the coming of the Lord draws near." "Behold, I come as a thief,
blessed is he that watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked, and
they see his shame." "Lest coming suddenly He finds you sleeping. And
what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch." - Romans 13:12; James 5:8;
Revelation 16:15; Mark 13:36, 37.
All
these statements when made were prospective rather than of a thing literally
close at hand for the immediate disciples of Jesus, or for the brethren under
the personal ministry of the Apostles. A long span of twenty centuries must
pass before an actual fulfillment would come. But how different it is with us
now, in the matter of these same statements! To us such texts have a
literalness of tremendous importance. These expressions were made many centuries
ago in this form for the purpose of encouraging the Lord's waiting people
through the long intervening time, and served to keep them under the purifying
influence of that blessed hope. Should not that same influence be greatly
increased in our day when the vision is speaking with a distinctness never
before possible? So it would seem. Thus it should be with other portions of the
Lord's Word in our time. For example, consider 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52: "Behold, I show you a mystery, we shall
not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an
eye." What moment? Any moment!
Any twinkling of an eye! We know not
what a day may bring forth. What if it
should be today? is a very proper question for watching ones to ask. The
greatest concern for each of us is shall
I be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless? Shall I be found so
occupied that however and whenever that final "moment" comes, I will
not be ashamed before Him? Such meditations will surely call forth the
prayer:
"Our Father, God, to Thee we
raise
Our prayer for help to tread Thy ways --
For wisdom, patience, love and light,
For grace to speak and act
aright."
"Watch, for you know not." Suppose
we are writing a letter to someone across the miles, and in a suddenness that "moment" comes, with the
letter left incomplete. What kind of an unfinished communication, expressing
our last occupation of mind, would we want to leave behind for others to see?
Surely we would want it to be something so Christ-like that it would bear
testimony to our readiness to go. Our letters today should follow the example
of the Apostle Paul's letters, beginning with a loving salutation
and ending with a Spirit directed benediction.
If
this is their beginning
and ending we
may be sure the in-between will be such as will minister good to the readers. If
that moment should come in an hour of visitation with others; or while engaged
in preparing a lesson for use before others gathered in His name; or perhaps
while occupied with something for publication, would we not want all of these
last moment activities to be such as would be thus pleasing to the Lord, and so
fit into that other beautiful, yet searching statement, "and their works do follow with them." Such is the hour
in which we are now living. Such are the very real possibilities, and can we
not hear the Lord Jesus saying to us in tones of loving solicitation and
warning, "Take heed, watch and pray:
for you know not when the time is" (Mark 13:33).
Those
whose lamps are trimmed and burning bright, whose vessels are filled with the
oil of the Spirit, and thus enabled to read aright the signs standing out in
clearness on the prophetic blueprint, are having our opening texts (Proverbs
2:10-11; 25:11) verified
in their experience today. They know that "when
wisdom enters into your soul; discretion shall preserve you, and understanding
shall keep you." They also know that when the heart is full of Christ
and the lips are His to use in "whatsoever
things are lovely," then the "word
fitly spoken is like apples of gold in
pictures of silver." Herein
we have the marks of Christian maturity. The character, which has responded progressively
under the purifying influences of "that
blessed hope" of being ready for the Lord, will of course be consistently
responsive to the present hour indications of a speedy consummation of that
hope. Wisdom, discretion, and understanding having come according to promise,
the heart is fixed on gaining the assured abundant entrance into the presence
of the Lord.
The
time grows short. The words will soon be spoken in finality, "they that were ready went in . . . and
the door was shut." These “made ready” ones stand with their feet
firmly set in the great essential doctrines of Christ, and they remember that
after all, the greatest questions are these, Will I be found bearing the required image of God's dear Son? Shall I
awake in His likeness according to God's predestined purpose? Will my blessed
Lord be able "to present me faultless before His presence with exceeding
joy"? These tents in which we sojourn a little longer are coming down
shortly under the stress and strain of age and decline. Or if that "moment" and "twink-
ling of an eye", come while vigor and strength may
seem unimpaired, shall we be ready for the "house
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens"? against which no
storms will ever beat, and which will be
the heritage of the faithful in a city of imperishable foundations.
Thank
God that the answers to these questions can be as we should want them to be, heart
cheering and hope inspiring to those who have built on Christ alone. They who
have been mainly concerned with keeping their heart with all diligence have no
need to be fearful over losing God's favor because of any shibboleth tests chosen
by others. Having built on the finished
work of Christ, and having sought in all things to be true to the
principles of His righteousness, all will be well with them. Such are they who
have had the prayer of John 17 fulfilled in their experience their preservation,
sanctification, unification, and prospective glorification being assured
through the grace and love of God. Of such He will say, "And they shall be Mine, says the Lord of hosts, in that day when
I make up My jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son that
serves him" (Mal.
J. J. Blackburn.
When He Shall Come
“And if I
go to prepare a place for you, I will come again,
that
where I am there you may be also.”
John 14:3
When He shall come,
resplendent in His glory,
To
take His own from out this vale of night,
O
may I know the joy of His appearing
Only
at morn to walk with Him in white!
When I shall stand within the court
of heaven
Where white-robed pilgrims pass
before my sight
Earth’s martyred saints and blood-washed
overcomers,
These then are they who walk with
Him in white!
When He shall call, from earth’s
remotest corners,
All who have stood triumphant in His
might,
O to be worthy then to stand beside
them,
And in that morn to walk with Him in
white!
Almeda J. Pierce