THE FINAL SEPARATION
Verses 40,41: "Then shall two be in the field; the one shall
be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; one
shall be taken, and the other left. This language was designed to illustrate
the final separation of the righteous and the wicked. Many husbands and wives,
parents and children, brothers and sisters, will then part, never to meet
again.
THOSE WHO WATCH, WILL KNOW THE TIME
Verses 42-44: "Watch therefore; for ye know not what hour
your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the good man of the house had known
in what watch the thief would come, he
would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken
up. Therefore, be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son
of Man cometh."
The day and hour of Christ's second coming are not revealed in the
Scriptures. Neither is the year in which this glorious event is to take place
pointed out. No one of the prophetic periods reaches to the second coming of
Christ. The sanctuary is to be cleansed at the end of the 2300 days, and Daniel
is to stand in his lot at at the end of the 1335 days. But that these events
occur before the second appearing of Christ, is susceptible of the clearest
proof. Both these prophetic periods terminated in 1844. But we cannot give a
defense of our position in regard to these periods in this work.
The time
from the end of the prophetic periods to the coming of Christ is emphatically
the waiting, watching time. Those who watch, as our Lord commands, will know
the time. No man will make it known; for it is not revealed to man in the
Scriptures. Angels will not make it known, though they may minister to and
communicate with, the children of men. Neither will the Son. But the Father
will make it known when he speaks again from Heaven. He once spake the ten
commandments in the hearing of the people. His voice then shook the earth. When
he speaks again, the heavens and earth will both shake. Says Paul: "Whose
voice then shook the earth; but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I
shake not the earth only, but also heaven." Heb.12:26. "The Lord also
shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and
the earth shall shake." Joel 3:16.
Probably
there is no prophecy that better describes the present state of unbelief in the
world in regard to the second advent, caused partly by fanatical
time-movements, than the following: "Son of Man, what is that proverb that
ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision
faileth? Tell them, therefore, Thus saith the Lord God: I will make this
proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say
unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision. For there
shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of
Israel. For I am the Lord: I will speak,and the word that I shall speak shall
come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged; for in your days, O rebellious
house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord God." Eze.
12:22-25. The burden of this prophecy is time; therefore, the word here
mentioned that the Lord will speak, will be the time.
Rev.3:3, is also to the point: "Remember therefore how thou
hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not
watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will
come upon thee." Those who do not watch, will not know the hour. Those who
watch, will know the hour.
The present watching condition is clearly defined in 1Thess.
5:1-4: "But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I
write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so
cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then
sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and
they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day
should overtake you as a thief."
The present watching, waiting position requires much faith and
patience.
Says Paul, "Cast not away therefore your confidence, which
hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye
have done the will of God [in proclaiming the coming of Christ], ye might
receive the promise. For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come,
and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; but if any man draw back,
my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back
unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul."
Heb.10:35-39.
Says James, "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming
of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the
earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter
rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord
draweth nigh." Chap.5:7,8.
The present position and present duty of God's people are defined
in Rev.14:12: "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep
the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."
THE FAITHFUL AND WISE SERVANT
Verses
45-47: "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made
ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
Blessed
is that servant whom his lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing. Verily I
say unto you, that he shall make him ruler over all his goods."
In this
figure, Christ is represented as the lord of the household of faith (see Mark
13:35; Heb.3:6), leaving his house, and committing the work of caring for his
church to his servants. A blessing is promised those servants who are
faithfully discharging their duty when their Lord comes. They are to feed the
flock of God, over whom the Holy Ghost hath made them overseers. Acts 20:28.
They must preach the word. 2Tim.4:2. They should watch for souls as they that
must give account. Heb.13:17. They will not only give meat to the household,
but they will give it in due season. They will preach the present truth. Their last work, before the
return of their Master, will be to proclaim his coming, and to teach the
necessary preparation. They will sacrifice the society and blessings of home,
and go everywhere, preaching the word, suffering fatigue of body and burden of
spirit. But such will have great reward in the kingdom of God. "Who is
that faithful and wise servant?" Where shall we find him? Ans. He is
faithfully and wisely attending to the interest of the household of faith.
He is
faithful. As a faithful watchman, he will give timely warning when he sees the
sword coming. His work just before the end is seen in the following scriptures:
Joel 2:1: "Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy
mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord
cometh, for it is nigh at hand." Isa.58:1: "Cry aloud, spare not,
lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and
the house of Jacob their sins." 2Tim.4:1-5: "I charge thee therefore
before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead
at his appearing and his kingdom, Preach the word; be instant in season, out of
season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and doctrine. For the
time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own
lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they
shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But
watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist,
make full proof of thy ministry."
He must be wise. "He that winneth souls is wise." He
must be wise. He will expose error, then hold forth the truth in its harmony
and beauty, and thus win men to the truth. When it becomes his duty to
"reprove and rebuke," it will be at a proper time and place, and then
with all "long-suffering and doctrine." He will study to show himself
"approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly
dividing the word of truth." 2Tim.2:15.
THE EVIL SERVANT
Verses 48-51: "But and if that evil servant shall say in his
heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his
fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the lord of that servant
shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not
aware of; and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the
hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
What the evil servant says and does, shows most clearly the
position and work of the faithful and wise servant. Why the evil servant says,
"My Lord delayeth his coming," is because the faithful servant is
proclaiming the coming of his Lord. Why the evil servant smites the faithful
servant, is because he teaches the speedy coming of his Lord. The faithful
servant, true to his commission to preach the "gospel of the kingdom"
to a fallen church and a scoffing world, toils on, and the evil servant smites
on. One is laying up treasure in Heaven, and is preparing to go home to his
eternal reward; while the other is calling down upon his head the displeasure
of the high and holy One, and is getting ready to receive the unmingled cup of
the fury of the Lord. The faithful servant is turning some, at least, to
righteousness, to shine forever as stars in his crown of glory, while the evil
servant pursues his downward course and work of death, making the bitter cup of
woe which awaits him, still more bitter. But the separating day is coming. The
Lord will come, and cut asunder the evil servant, and appoint him his portion
with the lost. In the general wailing and gnashing of teeth, with hypocrites he
will receive the portion due him for his works.
Heed the doom of the false shepherds, the ministers of the last
generation, who come up to the day of the Lord with their garments all stained
over with the blood of souls. They now cry, Peace and safety, and their flocks
confide in them. They stand between us and the people, and turn away the arrow
of truth. But their day is coming, dreadful beyond description. Thus saith the
Lord: "Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye
principal of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions
are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel. And the shepherds
shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape. A voice of
the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal of the flock, shall
be heard; for the Lord hath spoiled their pasture. And the peaceable
habitations are cut down, because of the fierce anger of the Lord."
Jer.25:34-37.
Continued from yesterday's study….
This study is on an
article written 147 years ago. So much
has happened in our world since then. Some of the things in here will sound
strange to us, and some may not seem relevant now. Time and place truly are
necessary in all things. May God forever and always guide us ONLY to HIS truth
in all we read, in all we study, all through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior!
*******
The Second Coming of
Christ BY ELD. JAMES WHITE.
"What shall be
the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the world?" - DISCIPLES.
"When ye shall
see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors." - JESUS.
*******
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