BE YE ALSO READY
By
D. M. PANTON
NEVER
has our need been more urgent to do what Enoch did - the morning star of the
Old Testament - to walk with God. The
earth in his time was "filled with violence"
- the violence of lawless movements, and raging nations; all mankind stood on
the threshold of a universal judgment-flood; Enoch, alone of his generation,
walked with God; when suddenly - for him only - all ended in
instantaneous TRANSLATION. And
never was the need more urgent to see the condition of translation.
"By faith Enoch was translated that he should not
see death; and he was not found, because God translated him: for before his translation he hath had witness borne to him that
he had been well-pleasing unto God" (Heb. 11: 5).
So on the promise of Christ our souls deeply, gladly rest. "Because thou
didst keep the word of my patience" - the Saviour's patient waiting
for His return, when His enemies shall be made His footstool - "I also will keep thee from the hour of trial, the
hour which is to come upon the whole inhabited earth"
- thus it is the Great Tribulation, the only judgment since the
Flood to overwhelm the whole earth at once - "to
try them that dwell upon the earth" (Rev.
3: 10). Here is
the overthrow of the teaching that all the Church must pass through the
Tribulation: total escape from that time of horror is possible for
every child of God. But the promise is sharply conditional. It is to the Angel alone - 'thou': it is based solely on his action, not on his
standing - "because thou didst keep":
it is grounded on a specific action of the Angel, namely, his Second
Advent attitude - "because thou didst keep the
word of my Patience": and the escape is made wholly
contingent on this attitude of the Angel - "because
thou didst keep, I will keep." It is 'kept'
for 'kept'; it is a quid Pro quo. It is a specific reward for a specific
service: and since this is "what the Spirit saith to the churches,"
all who are in the spiritual position of the Philadelphian Angel are certain
of total deliverance.
The Warning
So
then, since escape is thus conditional
on conduct, our Lord drops an exactly correspondent warning. "If thou shalt not watch" - again it is Second
Advent truth, with a life squared to it, which is the deciding factor - "I will come (arrive) as a thief, and thou shalt not know what
hour I will come upon (arrive over) thee" (Rev. 3: 3): the Parousia will have
begun, and the Angel, because un-rapt, be wholly ignorant of the Saviour's
arrival. Here is the overthrow of the
teaching that all the Church will escape the Tribulation: the unwatchful
child of God is certain to be caught in the last whirlpool. God has decreed neither our deliverance
nor our overthrow, for the threat, like
the promise, is sharply conditional. If the un-watchfulness ceases, so does the
danger: "God appointed us not
unto wrath" (1 Thess.
5: 9): only if the salt have lost its savour, like the 'dead' Sardian Angel, will it
be trodden under the foot of men. For if
The Command
Thus
out of the promise, and the warning, springs the inevitable command. "Watch ye at
every season, praying that" - so that, in order that - "ye may be accounted
worthy to escape all these things that shall
come to pass upon the earth" - the Great Tribulation is in the
immediate context - "and to stand (be set) before the Son of
man" (Luke 21: 36). What is the 'worthiness'? (1) Not Christ's
worthiness, imputed to us on faith: for that we have already; and all believers
have it, whether watchful or not, and to pray for what we already possess is
unbelief. This is a
worthiness towards which, and for which, we have still to pray; and that
always, until the End: "watch and pray always." After an address in
The Worthiness
Nor
(2) is it sinless perfection, - that saints will not die because they cannot
die, having become sinlessly perfect:
for even the First-fruits - the first-rapt before Harvest - are offered with
leaven (Lev. 23: 17): in the old body, no
soul of man can be sinless. The
worthiness is obviously a relative worthiness, - Christ's being the sole
absolute worthiness a measure of sanctification known only to God: a fact put
beyond all doubt by the word our Lord uses, "that ye may prevail (have the upper hand, succeed,
prevail - Liddell and Scott) to escape";
that in the stiff, long battle we may "win
through," "prevailing over"
world, flesh and devil, to reach the holy rapture of God. "If a man keep
my word" - watchfulness, or the conscious squaring of all
life to the Second Coming; and prayer, for hourly grace to persevere: these are
the supreme words of Christ on Translation - "he shall never
see death" (John 8 : 51).
The Preparation
So
our sharpening crisis calls urgently on us to walk with God, as Enoch walked
with God. For it is the
Bride, not the Bridegroom, who contributes the trousseau of marriage
readiness. "His wife hath made herself READY: and it was
given unto her" - from the inexhaustible reservoirs of grace on
which she can draw - "that she should array
herself" - her active application of that
grace to her own heart and conduct - "in fine
linen, bright and pure: for the fine linen is the righteous acts"
- the holy behaviour, the
sanctification and not the
justification - "of the saints" (Rev. 19: 8).
"Therefore be YE also ready"
(Matt. 24: 44).
The Walk With God
Brother Lawrence, in The Practise of the Presence of God, has expressed his own
walk with God. "The time of business," said he "does not with me differ from the time of prayer; and in the noise
and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling
for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility
as if I were on my knees at the Blessed Sacrament." His one method
of going to God and abiding in His Presence was to do all for the love
of Him. "The
littleness of my work does not lessen the value of the offering, for God
regards not the greatness of the work, but the love which prompts it." It was enough for Brother Lawrence to turn
the cake in the frying-pan for love of God, or to pick up but a straw from the
ground. "To
be with God," he said, "there is no
need to be continually in church. Of our
heart we may make an oratory, wherein to retire from time to time and with Him
hold meek, humble, loving converse." The spirit in which Lawrence spent the last
years of his life finds expression in two of his Maxims: "I would suffer not for ten years but till the Day of
judgment if it were God's will, and I hope that He would continue to aid me
with His grace to bear it": "I am
doing what I shall do through all eternity - blessing God, praising God,
adoring God, giving God the love of my whole heart. It is our one business to worship Him and
love Him, without thought of anything else."
Readiness
So
therefore readiness is vital to escape the horrors that are coming. Bodily removals from earth to heaven have
always followed the ripening of the wheat. Plurality of rapture is proved beyond dispute.
(1) Our Lord, probably with those who broke out of the tombs accompanying Him,
has been rapt, and as 'the first-fruits' (1 Cor. 25: 20) of the
harvest; a body of saints, specifically named 'firstfruits,' are on high before the
Tribulation (Rev. 15: 4); (3) two prophets
are visibly taken up in a separate rapture during the reign of Antichrist (Rev. 11 : 12); and (4) the martyrs under
Antichrist, on high (Rev.
14 : 4), could not have been rapt
before the close of the Tribulation. "BE YE
ALSO READY; FOR IN AN HOUR THAT YE THINK NOT THE SON OF MAN COMETH"
(Matt. 24: 44).
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TRANSLATION
THE
truth stated by Scripture - that the translation of Enoch was a reward - is obvious to commentators, and is undeniable.
John Angel James, a leading Nonconformist of the nineteenth century, says:-
"Enoch's translation was a testimony to the whole world of God's approval of his conduct."
Dr. Gouge
says:-
"To be translated from earth to heaven is a great reward. Enoch did
that which moved God to translate him: work
must be done before reward can be expected."
Gilfillan says:-
"One reason why this honour was conferred on him was to show his transcendent excellence."
Calvin says:-
"The Scripture shows that this translation was a proof of the Divine love towards
Enoch by connecting it immediately
with his pious and upright life."
John Gill,
Spurgeon's predecessor by a hundred years, says:-
"He was a walker with God,
and, the course of his conversation was holy and upright; which was the reason
of his translation, a high honour which was bestowed upon him."
"God translated him; FOR before his translation he hath had witness borne to him that he had been well-pleasing unto God" (Heb. 11: 5).
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THE LORD'S WARNING
By
R. H. BOLL
"But watch ye at every season, making supplication that ye may prevail to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man" (Luke 21: 36).
This
sentence concludes our Lord's prophetic discourse as recorded by Luke. It is very evident from this:- (1) that
certain things shall come to pass;
these are in part mentioned in the preceding part of the discourse (v. 25 ff); (2) that by watchfulness and supplication we may prevail to escape all
those things; (3) that those who so
escape shall stand before the Son of man.
First
let us examine some of the peculiar and meaningful words the Saviour used in
this sentence.
Agrupneite - watch ye; not the usual word gregoreo, but a term implying sleeplessness,
as of a burdened heart. It is the word
used in Mark 13 : 33;
also, significantly, in Eph. 6 : 18.
Deomenoi - making supplication; meaning to
make urgent request; stronger word than proseuchomai,
to pray.
Katischuste - prevail; ischuo means
to prevail; katischtio,
to prevail against or over something or somebody; to overcome, to get the upper
hand. The mob cried out till their
voices prevailed; (Luke 23: 23) and they got their wish.
Ekphugein - to escape; the simple word
"phugo" means to flee when
strengthened with "ek" it
means to flee out of some danger or evil situation, to escape.
Stathanai - to stand; but to be exact it
means "to be stationed," for it is a
passive form of "histemi," to
stand.
Emprosthen - before; more literally "in
front of."
These
are remarkable words. That the heavenly
wisdom of the Lord Jesus used them with purpose and determination needs not to
be said. Let us then, having examined
these outstanding words, try to take in the meaning of the verse. It forms the final word of the conclusion. To get its force we must look at the two
verses preceding :- "But
take heed to yourselves, lest haply your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting,
and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day come on you suddenly ... as a snare; for so shall it come upon all them that dwell on
the face of all the earth" (Luke 21:
34, 35).
It
is worthy of particular notice how the Lord distinguishes between His own, the
disciples He addresses, and "them that dwell on
the face of all the earth." These
latter are "earth-dwellers," in the bad sense; people who have
settled down here below, "men of the world whose
portion is in this life" (Ps. 17: 14)
as contrasted with those who are "sojourners and
pilgrims" (1 Pet. 2: 11). Upon such "that
day" will come "suddenly, as a snare"
- which obviously, in the Lord's warning, must be considered as a dreadful
calamity, by all means to be avoided.
He
solemnly cautions His disciples not to
let their hearts be taken up with self-indulgence, drunkenness or the cares of
this life which choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful (Mark 4: 19); for in that case would "that day" come upon them "suddenly, as a snare," precisely as it will upon
the earth-dwellers (Comp. Rev. 3: 3).
Now to our verse. Here the
Lord Jesus marks out the course necessary for His own who are to escape the
terrible things that shall come to pass and who shall be permitted to stand
before the Son of Man. It is for them:-
To watch at every season. Though He points out certain signs, at the
inception of which they should look up and lift up their heads, for the time of
their redemption draweth nigh (Luke 21: 28) - there is never a time when they should not
watch - signs or no signs. For the signs may go unnoticed,
and we may easily misjudge our times. The only safety lies in watching always. (See
here Mark 13: 35-37).
Making supplication. This, being
a participle, shows that the supplication is to go on during the constant
watching. If they are to watch at every
season, so must they be making supplication at every season, constantly.
And for what this constant, urgent prayer? That they may prevail to
escape all the things that are to come to pass, and to stand before the Son of
man. Both the escape, on the one
hand, from the calamities and judgment of that day and the privilege of being
placed "in front of" the Son of man
are here made contingent on watchfulness and prevailing prayer.
If
anyone asks how this harmonizes with the widely-held tenet of "the eternal security of the believer" and the
doctrine of salvation by grace - I would be far from detracting one whit from
the plain face value of any of God's precious promises. But let me say this - that if your faith in
those promises sets your soul on fire to serve God, to work and watch and pray,
and to do all His good will gladly, then there is no doubt that you have truly
understood, and your faith in His gracious promise is having its intended
result and manifestation. But if yours
is a sort of pleasant fatalism that tends to make you careless and easy going,
you have surely misunderstood something and you surely need the Lord's warning.
Let us watch and make supplication
always that we may escape the things that shall come upon the world and be
accounted worthy of the
-
Herald of His Coming.
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THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM
The
Lord is now selecting and training the kings and rulers for the coming new age
in His great plan of redemption. "Unto him that bath loved us and washed us from our sins in
his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father"
(Rev. 1: 5, 6). "And we shall
reign on the earth" (Rev. 5: 10). A warless world to last 1,000 years will
some day be a reality, but only those who have parted company with sin and the
world will ever have any place in that greatly to be desired "New Order."
"Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first
resurrection of such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests
of God and of Christ, and shall reign
with him a thousand years."
- W. F. BEIRNES.