FINDING THE BRIDE OF CHRIST
A SELECTION OF WRITINGS BY
VARIOUS CHRISTIAN AUTHORS
-------
1
The First Bride*
By GEORGE D WATSON
[* From ‘GOD’S FIRST WORDS’ Studies in Genesis
Historic, Prophetic
and Experimental.
(pp. 37-41 & pp. 132-139)]
[PART ONE]
[Page
37]
Just as God’s plan for the kingdom was
as perfect at the beginning of the Bible as at the end of it, so God had a plan
for the Bride of Christ, and that plan was instituted at the creation of Adam and
Eve and has remained unchanged throughout all generations, and will be
consummated in the winding up of human probation. “And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon
Adam, and he slept; and he took one
of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead
thereof, and the rib which the Lord God had
taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, “this is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she
shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man” (Gen.
2:
21-23). The way God formed a wife for Adam is
exactly the way He is now forming a bride for His only begotten Son. This plan
of forming the forst bride was eternal in the mind of
God, and that plan has never been changed and never
will be changed, and forms a perfect revelation of the things concerning Christ
and the church of the firstborn.
1. In the deep
sleep that God put upon Adam we see a prophecy of the death of Christ and how
His body was put to sleep, and out from the death of
Christ there is formed the Bride of the Lamb as definitely as Eve was formed
from the rib of Adam. Our salvation is procured only
by the death of Jesus. How little this Scripture truth is
understood by many who think they are Christians. We are not saved by
the example of Christ, nor by His birth, nor by His miracles, but most emphatically and only by His death; and if
you will take all the Scriptures say about the death of Christ, you will find
they affirm most positively that we are saved only by His death. If Jesus had
suffered for us ten times more than He did suffer and yet had not died, we could never have been saved. It was not only His sufferings,
but His suffering unto death that constituted the
redemption for human [Page 38] beings. And so in the deep sleep that God gave Adam we
have the foreshadowing of that deep sleep in death that Jesus entered into, out
of which comes our salvation and the formation of His church and His bride.
2. In forming a
bride for Adam out of his own bones and flesh we see a prophecy of the perfect
oneness between Christ and His true church. It is not a metaphorical oneness or
a legal oneness, but most emphatically a oneness of
nature, of life, for the apostle says we are members of His bones and of His
flesh and of His body. The union of a true believer with Jesus is not a
mechanical union, but a living oneness, as the branch with the vine, as the
finger with the hand, a oneness of life and nature and
character.
3. In forming a bride out of Adam’s
rib, we get another revelation concerning her rank as his companion. God did
not take a bone out of Adam’s foot to be under him, nor
a bone out of his head to have authority over him, but a rib from his side, to
be his equal, his companion, his joint partner in life and authority. This same
truth holds good in the formation of a company of chosen saints in
all ages to be the Bride of Jesus Christ. God did not take the entire body of
Adam, but only a chosen part of that body, a special selection from a certain
part of the body, which was full of prophetic instruction.*
[* Bold type and highlighting
are mine throughout. - Ed.]
The teaching that the Jews are to form the Bride of Christ is utterly unscriptural, because
It is also unscriptural to teach that all who are saved will form the Bride of Christ, for every single Scripture bearing
on this subject goes to show that the Bride is a selected
number from the countless millions who are saved.
If we search into every Scripture bearing [Page 39] on the subject of the Bride of
Christ, we will find that in all cases it is a rib taken from the heart or the
centre of the body. The twelve tribes of
Now look at it: of the twelve tribes of Jacob, Levi was not
the first son or the last one, but the third son; that
is, the rib, near the centre of the twelve tribes. When God selected our earth
as the planet on which His Son should be incarnated,
He did not select Mercury at the head of the solar system, or
When God selected Palestine as the
home for the twelve tribes, and the place where His Son should be born, you see
He did not choose the birth place of His Son in Lapland, at the top of the
world, nor South Africa, at the foot of the world, but He chose the land of
Canaan, the rib, the heart of all the various portions of the earth.
King David describes the royal bride in Psalm 45, but in that Psalm he mentions four classes of those who are saved in the kingdom, the honourable women, who are one
company, and the daughter of
Also in the sixth chapter of the Song of Solomon there is a description of the various companies that are in the kingdom,
consisting of four great ranks, for he says there are “three score queens” which form one company and “four score concubines” which form another company, and “virgins without number” which form another company. But above all these he says “my dove, my undefiled is the choice one,
or the elect one of her mother, and this choice one is the bride.”
When Jesus explained how His disciples were so happy in His
companionship in contrast with Johns disciples, who
were sad, He said, “My disciples are the children of the bridechamber.” And while
John’s disciples were religious men and most certainly on the way to Heaven,
and among those that were saved, yet they did not take rank with
those other disciples which He declares were children of the bridechamber.
Thus if we study every Scripture in
the Bible on the subject of the Bride, as well as God’s plan for our earth in
the solar system and God’s plan for the land of Canaan in the geography of the
earth, we find everything in the world points one way - that the Bride of
Christ is the rib taken from the great body, is a chosen
company of devoted souls in all generations who are more closely united to
Christ than others are. It
is this [select] company that constitutes the elect wife of the King of the
world, and the
company that will be His helpmeet and His co-regents in the administration
of His kingdom in the ages that are to come.
Another fact we must not forget is that after the fall there
was a prophecy in the second name that was given to
Adam’s wife concerning things to come. Her first name was Woman, the Hebrew
word being “Ishsha,” which simply
means the female man. But after the fall when God gave
the promise of redemption and a new creation and that the seed of the woman
should bruise Satan’s head, then she obtained the name of Eve. The word “Eve” signifies the mother of life, or
more literally, the mother of the living one, that is the mother of the
incarnate Son of God.
[Page 41]
The name Eve occurs only four times in the Bible and the
number four is always that number indicative of the world, the earth, or
mankind. So that while Ishsha was her natural name, Eve is her
redemption name. As there was to be a second man to be the
Saviour of the world, so there was to be a second wife of redeemed and
glorified saints to form the helpmeet for the second Man, and as the first Eve
was taken as a rib from Adam’s body, so the second Eve, the glorified woman of
the elect saints, should be taken from the heart of the Lord Jesus.
Thus we see that the first words God ever
spoke regarding a bride for Adam have never been changed, but only enlarged and
extended into the new creation.
* *
*
2
[PART TWO]
[Page
132]
Seeking a Wife for Isaac
We have
in the 24th
chapter
of Genesis
one of the most perfect prophetic types in the entire Old Testament of the way in
which God the Father sends forth the Holy Spirit to search out from
the saved ones a special company to compose the Bride of the Lamb.
It is a long chapter, and the details that are recorded therein would never
have been put in the Bible merely as a piece of
history or as a biography of Rebekah as the wife of Isaac. Such a lengthy,
detailed account would be out of all proportion to other subjects
which are mentioned in Scripture. But when we
study the chapter as a revelation of the Lord Jesus
Christ and of His Bride, and the things connected with
His coming and His Kingdom, then there is sufficient warrant for the
lengthy account and all the little particulars that are given. Everything is
great in proportion as it relates to Christ and constitutes a revelation of Him
and His Kingdom. That is God’s first word in relation to searching out a chosen company to form the Bride of the Lamb.
It is true in our lesson about Eve being the first bride we had
occasion to bring out some points in which Eve was a prophetic picture of
Christ’s wife, but that lesson occurred before the Fall
and does not fit in the same way that this lesson does in the 24th chapter. This is a lesson in grace and not in
primitive holiness in
[Page 133]
1. It was after Isaac had been offered up as a sacrifice on
2. In the person
of Eliezer, the steward that had charge of Abraham’s goods, we see a most
beautiful type of the Holy Spirit as the Steward of the household of God,
having charge of all the possessions that belong to Jesus, the heavenly Isaac.
The word “Eliezer” means “God’s
helper,” and so the name and the service that he performed agree
exactly. We read that Eliezer had charge of all of Abraham’s property and managed all his estate,
and this is what the Scriptures teach concerning the Holy Spirit. He has been sent to administer on the estate of Christ, to be
the Sanctifier and Comforter of believers, to apply the atoning blood of Christ
to the heart, to reveal the Scriptures to the understanding, to teach and guide
the believer into all spiritual truth, and to have charge of God’s providence
in the life of the believer.
3. Abraham gave
orders to his steward not to take a wife for Isaac from the
It is after penitents are converted
that the Holy Spirit makes overtures to them concerning a perfect consecration,
and the entering into a covenant of entire devotion to God, and receiving
Christ as a perfect Saviour that they may enter into the fellowship of the Holy
Spirit. Thereby they become candidates for the bridehood
company, or, as Paul puts it, become
espoused to the Lord Jesus to be His wife at His second coming.
Jesus teaches this when He shows the difference between the disciples of John,
who were just beginning the life of faith, and His own disciples, whom He
designates as “children of the bridechamber.” We must first be born again and be members of God’s kindred
in order that we may be candidates to receive the baptism of the [Holy] Spirit.
4. We notice that when Eliezer reached
the well of water (verses 17-20) and requested of Rebekah a drink of
water, that she at once obeyed his request, and not only gave him to drink, but
also drew water for the camels. In performing that service
she had no apprehension of the magnitude of her little ministry, but was simply
acting out the courtesy and kindness of her nature and of her training. None
the less that act of service formed the basis of
Eliezer’s choice and faith that she would be the one for the wife of Isaac.
This same principle is carried out in the early
service of a young convert. When we submit to the Lord Jesus Christ and trust
in Him, we have no conception of the magnitude of that act. Little do we dream
that our early service to the Lord will form the basis for great and wonderful
things if we continue to follow Him.
It is very significant how many people in the Bible met their wives
at a well of water. Eliezer met the wife of Isaac at the well of water, and then Jacob met Rachel at a well of water, and when Moses
left
5. In response to Rebekah’s service in
drawing the water, Eliezer gave her a ring and a bracelet out of Abraham’s
treasures as a token of approval for her service. This corresponds with the
fact that the believer receives at his justification a token from
the Father by the Holy Ghost in the assurance of forgiveness and peace with God.
The prodigal son on returning to the father received a ring, the token of
reconciliation, and so this ring and bracelet given to Rebekah agrees exactly
with the witness of the [Holy] Spirit which we receive when
we trust Jesus as a personal Saviour.
6. Eliezar on reaching Rebekah’s home
refused to enter the house until after he had told his mission and received a
favourable response, as we see in verses 33-38. It was just outside the door that he made the great
proposition that Rebekah should be the wife of Isaac, and he waited for the
answer before entering the home. This corresponds exactly with Christian
experience. After we are justified, the Holy Ghost in some way draws us on to
entire consecration, and in a certain sense makes a proposition that we be
willing to abandon ourselves without any limit to the Lord Jesus to be His and
His alone forever. Upon that decision depends the
future whether the Holy Spirit as the Comforter will enter into our hearts or
not. In a certain sense the Holy Spirit stands just outside the door and waits
for us to give our complete and final answer of leaving and going with Christ
all the way, to be His alone and His forever, and the Spirit waits for our
answer before He comes in with His Pentecostal endowments.
7. As soon as Rebekah agreed to leave home and friends and everything in the world and follow
Eliezer to be the wife of Isaac, then the old steward entered the home and
partook of the feast and rested for the night. See verses 50, 51. In the same way when the believer surveys
all the points in his heart and life and deliberately dedicates himself to the
blessed Jesus without any limit as to what may or may not come in his life,
without any limit as to what Christ’s demands may be, without any limit to his
faith and devotion, it is [Page 36] then that the Holy
Spirit puts His seal upon such a perfect heart yielding. He enters the believer
with a marvellous fulness and richness of heavenly gifts, and finds a resting
place in the soul that has fully accepted Jesus as a Saviour from sin and self.
It is the office of the Holy Spirit to communicate to the believer the will of
God and the work of Christ. Whenever the believer reaches certain conditions of
faith and obedience there will be responsive touches from the Holy Spirit which form the true sealing of the believer’s faith.
8. We notice in the next step of this
wonderful history that when Rebekah gave her complete decision to be the wife
of Isaac, then Eliezer opened up a great store of precious things, which he had
brought out of the wealth of Abraham for the chosen bride. We read in verse 53 that he brought forth many gifts, rich garments, and precious things to
give to the elect bride. Will you please notice the difference between these
two gifts. Thc
first at the well consisted of a ring and a bracelet; but later on in the
house, after she had made public her entire devotion to Isaac, to be separated
and leave all to be his wife, then the steward gave her a large dower of many
rich and precious things. This corresponds exactly with the full believer in
Jesus. When the child of God has entered into a boundless covenant to belong wholly
to the Lord, then the Holy Spirit pours into that believer a marvellous enlightenment and a sweetness of
rest and an overflow of love and a rich variety of spiritual gifts
which correspond exactly with these great treasures given to Rebekah.
Furthermore, it is said that when Rebekah received these precious things that Eliezer also gave gifts to her
mother and other members of the family, so that the whole family was enriched
by the overflow of blessing that was given to Rebekah. This is exactly what takes
place when believers receive the baptism of the Spirit. They not only get
marvellous riches from God, but other Christians in
the same family or the same church or the same religious association receive
also great blessing as an overflow or surplus bestowed upon the believer that
receives his Pentecost. What a marvellous plan God has, that there is always a
surplus and overflow in His blessing, corresponding with the words of David, “My cup runneth over.” You remember in the book of Leviticus that at the feast of Pentecost the [Page 137] people were
commanded not to reap their harvests in a penurious way, but to leave
some grain in the fence corners and leave the gleaning for the poor and the stranger.
This indicates clearly that the feast of Pentecost meant an overflow of
blessing. That fact is perfectly set forth in this lesson when Rebekah, the
elect bride, not only was flooded with manifold treasures, but that her family
also received many gifts as the overflow of her blessing.
9. When Eliezer wanted to leave the
next morning, Rebekah’s mother and brother tried to hinder the old man and
requested a delay of ten days. But Eliezer was under
the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and he knew that that suggestion came from the
flesh, and that such a delay would hinder God’s plan and might be followed by
serious consequences. Hence he said, “Hinder me not,” and insisted on going at once upon
the long journey. This agrees with religious experience in the fact that when a
full believer is filled with the [Holy] Spirit and wants to go forward at once
in obeying God, there will always be some fleshly minded friends or relatives
that want to put a check on the fervour of the full believer. They seek in various
ways to tone down the obedience and delay the steps of service, not knowing
that such delays would mar God’s plan and hinder the work of grace. Nothing but
the light of the Holy Spirit can show the true believer, as He showed Eliezer,
that our only safety is in prompt
obedience, and not heeding the
advice of cold and worldly friends in a matter where God’s will is concerned.
10. After leaving
the home of Rebekah they had a long journey, riding on the camels, and we can be sure that the
burden of their conversation during that journey would be concerning Isaac.
Eliezer confidently told Rebekah the whole story of Isaac’s life, about the
time of his birth, and then the casting out of Ishmael, and then his being
offered upon Mt. Moriah, and of all the sweet and beautiful things in Isaac’s
life. This wonderful story of the old steward only made Rebekah love Isaac more and more and long to see him. As they
moved on day after day on the swaying backs of the camels Rebekah would
doubtless revolve in her mind many pictures that Eliezer gave her out of
Isaac’s life, until her heart glowed with a strange warmth and a wonderful
attraction toward that rich land [Page 138] in the west and the
great and good man that she was to meet. This agrees with the fact that
the true believer, after receiving the Pentecostal blessing and the gifts of
the [Holy] Spirit, is to go on a journey with the
Holy Spirit to meet the blessed Jesus in
His coming and Kingdom. As they journey together the Holy Spirit will do
what Christ said, and take the things of Christ and reveal them to the soul, and thus intensify the believer’s faith
and love and cause him to press forward more vigorously in the path of faith and obedience.
11. At last when the journey ended we
see in verse 63 that Isaac goes out to meditate in
the evening time and looks up and sees the camels coming with the chosen bride
in the company to meet him. When Rebekah finds out that the man she sees in the
distance is her future husband, she alights from the camel
and puts on her veil and prepares to meet him. What a beautiful parable
this is of the winding up of the church age. When the evening time comes of
this dispensation, and the sun is about to set, Jesus will come out on the blue
sky, as Isaac did in the open field. The Holy Spirit, Who has been leading the
chosen bride through this age, will make known to the bride the person of Jesus
when He appears. And then the bride, under the
guidance of the Holy Spirit, will humble herself and put on those finishing
touches of preparation to meet her Lord and Husband.
12. It is said
that after Isaac took Rebekah he loved her, and he was comforted over the death
of his mother. How truly this fits in with the history of the blessed Jesus, for
you remember how He grieved over poor old dead
[Page 139]
Thus we see a series of living
pictures in which Isaac is a most perfect type of the Lord Jesus, and Rebekah
is a beautiful picture of the chosen ones who are to form the
Bride of Christ and sit with Him in His throne and take part with Him in
reigning over the nations of the earth, as we find
promised in Revelation 3: 21.
* *
*
3
FINDING THE BRIDE OF CHRIST
By D. M. PANTON
The
Old Testament is described by Paul as full of ‘types and shadows’ of
New Testament realities; and it seems hardly probable that the Holy Spirit
would occupy a lengthy chapter of Genesis with elaborate details
of a family marriage, if it were not a lovely symbol - as it most definitely is
- of the great Marriage expressed in the words,- “The kingdom of heaven is like
a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son” (Matt. 22: 2, [N.I.V.]). So we find it set in the suited
background. Genesis 22 is Isaac,
the son of Abraham, offered up as a sacrifice on Mount Moriah, and - the Holy Spirit says in Hebrews 11: 19: - “He did receive Isaac back from death”: so now, in the antitype after Calvary, the resurrected
Son of God is to have a Bride; and Genesis 24 is not only a wonderful revelation of divine
guidance, but an extraordinarily exact photograph of that seeking - from amongst His redeemed family members -
to find those chosen to become Christ’s Bride.**
*NOTE. In Gen.
24, the bride is taken from amongst family members. “You will not get a
wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites … but will go to my country and MY OWN RELATIVES to get a wife for my son Isaac,” (verse 4): “the Lord has
led me on the journey to the house of my father’s relatives”
(verse 27); “go to my
father’s family and to my own clan, and get a wife for my son,” (verse38):
“the Lord … will send
his angel with you … so that you can get a wife for my son from my own clan and from
my father’s family” (verse 40). Therefore, those chosen to rule and reign
with Christ cannot possibly
include all the regenerate!
[* G. H. Lang points out our danger if we ignore the moral warning: “Jonathan,
though he loved David as his own soul and willingly resigned to him the throne,
seeking to be second only in the kingdom though himself the heir-apparent (1 Sam. 23: 17), did not even enter
David’s kingdom, for he did not share his rejection. … Through filial loyalty
he supported the king and the
system which God had rejected, and lost his life in its collapse.”]
THE BRIDE
Far away from Abraham and Isaac
- the Father and the Son - is the distant Bride. The Mystical Christ is hidden among
all nations, and veiled - like Eastern women - amongst all classes and ages;
and the servant who is sent out to seek her has to have the assurance of
supernatural guidance, as He travels out into unknown lands. “Abraham said. The Lord, the
God of heaven, who brought me out of my father’s household and my
native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I
will give this land’ - he will send his angel
before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there” (Gen. 24: 7). Long before the discovery and call of
Rebekah, Abraham administers an oath that a bride shall be chosen and brought
to his son: even so, God has chosen us “before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1: 4); and John
the Baptist,* seeing Christ, instantly identifies the One Isaac typifies: “He that hath the bride is the bridegroom” (John 3: 29).
* NOTE. A willingness on the
part of the regenerate to obey the Christian rite of baptism - commanded by
John the baptiser, our Lord Himself and His apostles - now appears as a pre-requisite for those who hope to be “accounted worthy”
of “taking part in the
resurrection [out] from the dead” to reign as consort queen with Christ
during the “Age” to come, (Luke 20: 35). Cf.
Phil. 3: 11; Rev. 20: 4).
THE SERVANT
Now
we get a typical photograph of the soul-winner.
The entrusted embassy is given to a nameless servant; throughout the
whole chapter he is never once named: a nameless servant because it can be any servant, and therefore
it can be every servant. “I have found,”
says the Bishop of Dornokal, “that the simple witness of an untrained and unpaid lay
person carries far more conviction to a heathen than the sermon of a Bishop.” Yet when we learn the name (Gen.
15: 2) it is equally suggestive:- Eliezer, ‘one whom God helps’.
Throughout the whole winning of the Bride, while he is never named,
invariably throughout he is helped. Nevertheless, the name Eliezer has blazed
for three thousand years: so “they
that turn many to righteousness”** shall shine “as the stars for ever and ever”.
How blessed that every one of us can be Eliezer!
[*NOTE: An undisclosed
standard of personal righteousness must be attained by the
bride; for the “Bride” is chosen from amongst
the members of the “Body” of Christ in the type,
which must hold true in the antitype! (Matt.
5: 20; Rev. 19: 8.)]
* “Everything set forth in the
foundational framework in Genesis,” says A. L. Chitwood, “must hold true in the
Spirit’s search for the bride in the present dispensation. God is presently
calling out a bride to reign as consort queen with His Son (in the antitype of
Eve, who was to reign as consort queen with the first Adam; or, viewing another
facet of the matter, in the antitype of Isaac’s bride being obtained in the far
country in Gen. 24). And to fulfil His plans and purposes in this respect, God
has created one new man ‘in Christ’ (Eph. 2: 13-15), who is neither Jew nor Greek.
And this new creation, being ‘Abraham’s seed’
(through a positional standing ‘in Christ,’ Who is
Abraham’s Seed), can have a part in the [millennial] inheritance promised
to Abraham; for those comprising this new creation are reckoned to be ‘heirs according to the promise’
(Matt. 21: 43; Gal. 3: 16, 26-29; Heb. 3: 1; 1 Pet. 2: 9, 10).”
IDENTIFICATION
But
Eliezer is now troubled by the thought - as we all are - what if we fail to [be chosen as part of the Bride, or to] win the Bride, what if our wedding invitation meets with no response? Very beautifully
Abraham replies:- “If the woman
is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine:” (verse
8).
Do your part, and God will do His; you cannot convert, all you can do is
to carry the message; and if you have done all that is possible to you, no
blame attaches for an undiscovered Bride.
So Eliezer asks for explicit
guidance in the identification of the Bride. He says:- “O Lord
… give me success
today.” Then he suggests an
identification proof. “May it be that when I say to a girl, ‘Please let down your jar
that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’ - let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac.’” Let me know
her by her instant response. “Before
he had finished praying, Rebekah came out.” Her delightful hospitality at once makes
Eliezer certain that he has found the Bride.
“Then the man bowed down
and worshipped the Lord, saying, ‘Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master, Abraham,
who … has led me on the
journey to the house of my master’s relatives:’” (26, 27).
RESPONSE
So now we have the crucial test.
The Servant reveals the Father and the Son, in the first speech recorded in the
Bible; and lo, the soul that responds, and is willing to forsake her own family
members, by following “the one
in charge of all that he had” is the
Bride.* She reveals herself. No conceivable test could be better. “The chief servant” does not ask for some magical sign, such as her
stumbling as she approaches him, or the alighting of a bird on the shoulder of
the selected maid: he asks, as a sign, a
responding heart, that will thus
reveal God as the Worker already there.
And the immediate response proves him correct. After he has explained the whole
matter to Laban, Rebekah’s family, having heard all, ask her:- “Will you go with this man?
‘I will go.’ she said.” The Bride
consists of all who respond to the call. The testimony of the Servant has so sunk into her heart that she is willing to leave all to be the ‘Bride’ for
Isaac. “Anyone who loves
his father or mother more than me,” says our Lord Jesus Christ,
“is not worthy of me; anyone
who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is
not worthy of me:” (Matt. 10: 37, 38).*
*NOTE. “Adam was a type of
Christ. Not only is all of the Old Testament about Christ, but Adam is
specifically stated to be a type of Christ in Rom. 5: 14 (where the Greek word tupos [“type,” translated “figure,” K.J.V.] is used of
Adam, in relation to Christ).” (A.
L. Chitwood.)
ENDOWMENT
The servant now brings forth a
ring of gold, and bracelets of gold; and he clasps them on her hands as the
betrothed of Isaac: so immediately, in the Upper Room, the moment the Bride had
appeared, the apostles were enriched with jewels of miracle and inspiration
placed on the neck of the Bride. Jesus never sought his Bride for the portion
she could bring Him - so far as we know,
Rebekah left her home penniless: nay, Christ’s Bride owed ten thousand
talents, and her Lord had first to pay her debt: He sought her because He loved
her; and He endows her with all His goods - “the unsearchable riches of Christ.”
TEN DAYS
All this time Rebekah has
accepted a Bridegroom whom she has never
seen; but she had believed the report
- “the coming of the
salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pet. 1: 5), and what
she heard of Him was enough for her heart - “though you do not see him now, you believe in him, and are filled with
inexpressible and glorious joy” (verse 8); and ten days intervene before she starts to meet him.
Ten is always the number of
responsibility: ten commandments to be obeyed; ten talents to be used; ten
virgins commanded to watch; ten lepers responsible to confess. So now the whole
epoch intervenes of Christian
responsibility, during which, by a thousand methods, that is being prepared
which must come at long last - “a radient church [i.e an ‘out-calling’ from amongst the ‘Body’ of the redeemed], without stain or
wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless:” (Eph.
5: 27). cf.
Col. 3: 5-17; Heb. 11: 13, 39). *
*The
Bride, in her Millennial
aspect, provides her own trousseau - “for the fine
linen is the righteous acts of the saints” (Rev. 19: 8). In the
words of Mrs. Sarah F. Moore:- “John, the seer of
THE MARRIAGE
So at last the wedding takes
place. As the evening shadows fall - as the sun of our dispensation is sinking
- Isaac comes forth into the field - “the field is the world”, and
the pavilion of cloud where Christ and the “Church of the firstborn” meet
is part of this earth; and he takes her into his mother’s tent - the
DECISION
How unutterably solemn this makes
our hearing of the Gospel! God’s servant - it matters not who he is, he is
nameless - presses, as a God-entrusted suitor, for instant decision. He who
takes the Bridegroom’s name - and becomes a ‘Christian’ by that fact
- proclaims the wedlock: he disengages himself from all rival suitors - the
world, the flesh, the devil - and
engages himself to Christ for time and eternity. On the other hand, absence of response is fatal: a soul not the Bride could have the greatest evangelist plead
with him or her for a thousand years, with no result: that soul is not the Bride.
*
* *
4
THE
TEN VIRGINS
1
- Alford
All here are
virgins, all are companions of the Bride, all furnished with brightly burning
lamps, all, up to a certain time, fully ready to meet the Bridegroom - the
difference consists in some having made a provision for feeding the lamps [with
oil] in case of delay, and the others none; and the moral of the parable is the
blessedness of endurance unto the end. These are souls come
out of the world into the Church, and there waiting for the coming of the Lord
- not hypocrites, but faithful souls bearing their lamps (1Thess.
4: 4),
the inner spiritual life fed with the
oil of God’s Spirit (see Zech. 4: 2-12; Acts 10: 38; Heb. 1: 9). The wise
virgins gave all diligence to make their calling and election sure (2
Pet. 1: 10 and 5: 8), making their bodies, souls and spirits (their
‘vessels,’ 2 Cor. 4: 7) a means of supplying spiritual food for the
light within, by seeking, in the appointed means of grace, more and more of God’s Holy Spirit. The others did not this
- but, trusting that the light, once burning, would ever burn, made no provision for the strengthening of
the inner man by watchfulness and prayer.
2 - Olhausen
This
parable, which must be considered one of the finest in the Gospel, contrasts
with the parable of the Talents that follows: whilst the ‘servants’
are busily at work, and engaged in a variety of concerns, the ‘virgins’
wait to meet the beloved. The fact that they are all characterized as virgins
is a proof that the antithesis of ‘wise’ and ‘foolish’
is not to be taken in the sense of ‘good’ and ‘wicked’,
for the idea of gross transgression is incompatible with love to the Lord. The
foolish virgins are merely to be viewed as
representing minds who seek that which is pleasing and sweet in the service of
the Lord, instead of following Him
in right earnest, and who neglect to
labour after thorough renewal, and
to build in the right way upon the foundation that is laid (1 Cor. 3: 15). When feeling was no longer sufficient, and nothing
but thorough self-denial could avail them, the flame of their love died away.
It is clear that the words, “I know you not” (verse 12), cannot denote eternal condemnation: for, on the contrary,
the foolish virgins are only excluded
from the marriage of the Lamb (Rev. 19: 7); hence they must be viewed as parallel with the
persons described (1 Cor. 3: 15) whose
building is destroyed, but who are not thereby deprived of eternal happiness. These
virgins possessed the general condition of happiness, faith (which led them to
cry ‘Lord,
Lord!’, verse 11); but they
lacked the requisite qualification for the [Millennial]
3 - The Pulpit Commentary
These virgins all alike
took their lamps; all alike went forth to meet the bridegroom; all too had oil
in their lamps, although not all had a
store of oil in their vessels also. Then all were something more than
nominal Christians; all has, in some sense, come out
of the world, and had gone to meet the Bridegroom. There are no hypocrites in
the parable, no openly wicked and disobedient men. This consideration gives it
a very awful meaning; it is not enough
to have been once awakened, there is need of constant,
persevering watchfulness. The parable embodies and enforces the lesson of
the last verse, “Watch therefore, for ye know not the day nor the hour.”
It
is not enough to have been ‘once enlightened.’ The foolish
had their lamps; and the lamps were not empty or dark, they were burning, they
had oil in them. Then even the foolish were using the means of grace, they had been made “partakers of the Holy
Ghost” (Heb. 6:
4).
But they had no
oil with them. They delighted in their past experience,
and trusted in it as if they had all that was needed for their spiritual life. The wise virgins counted not themselves to have apprehended;
they forgot what was behind, and ever reached forth unto those things
which were before; they sought in
persevering prayer and daily self-denials, and the constant faithful use of the appointed means of grace, for ‘the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ’; not quenching the Spirit, to increase in the Holy Spirit more and
more.
The Bridegroom tarried;
the time of waiting was long - much longer than the foolish virgins had
thought. The first excitement passed away, some had left their first love, the love of most was growing cold. The shades of difference
amongst [regenerate] Christians is
innumerable: some are utterly careless; some rouse themselves from time to time
to thought and real effort; some try by the power of faith and prayer to keep
themselves in the love of God, and to love the appearing of the Saviour. But none realize to the full and tremendous necessity of watchfulness; none live in that fixed attention, in that full preparedness, in that daily and hourly anticipation of
the Saviour’s coming, which we should regard as the true Christian frame of
mind, to which we should strive to approximate nearer and nearer, in all
humility and self-distrust, not counting ourselves to have attained, but ever
pressing forward.
4 - Greswell
“Give to us from your oil; because our lamps
are beginning to go out.” The
meaning of these words is, that their lamps had begun to be extinguished, but were not quite extinct. It was easy
for the wise virgins, having a supply of oil at hand, to pour a little more into them, and to
revive the flame as effectually as ever; which the parable calls “trimming
their lamps.”
All of them
previously waiting for, and expecting the bridegroom in common, all of them
previously having the same personal interest in the event of his coming, and
the same personal inducement to wait for and expect it - the separation,
notwithstanding its effects in discriminating between the personal fortunes of
its subjects respectively at last, is due to the difference of their personal
conduct before; and being no more than the necessary consequence of the
different use of means and opportunities, equally in the power of both, and
equally left to their own discretion, it is after all only the just personal
retribution which prudence or imprudence of conduct, in the same situation, the
right or wrong use of similar means and opportunities, under circumstances
equally favourable for either, are liable at all times, and may be expected in
the end, to suffer.
The virgins, as members
of the [regenerate] visible
5 - Govett
The wise enter simple as
‘the ready,’ not as the true virgins, while the others were only
professedly so; not as having lit torches, while the others’ lights were extinguished; but as the ready differ from the
imprudent and unready. “They,”
says Jerome, “who complain that their lamps are going out, manifest that
they are still partially alight.”
The wise enter the king’s house by ascension, after the resurrection which they enjoy in
common with the foolish.*
[* NOTE: It may surprise many Christians to know that Robert
Govett did not believe in a select
Resurrection! He believed all
regenerate believers will be resurrected from the dead to be judged in Heaven - after their Resurrection (but
not in Hades before Resurrection.
See Heb. 9:
27. & 11:
35, R.V. Cf. Luke 20: 35; Phil. 3: 11; Rev. 20: 4-6, etc.): and those not ‘accounty
worthy’ to rule with Jesus Christ during His millennial Kingdom,
Robert Govett believed will have toreturn into Hades! - (the abode of
the dead) and wait for a later Resurrection when “death and Hades delivered up the dead which were in them”
(Rev. 20: 12, 13.)]
His Millennial kingdom viewed in this light, the words, “Verily I say unto you, I know you not,” carry no sentence of
final exclusion. They import solely - “You
are no acquaintance of mine.” The wise are guests, not simply as virgins,
but as virgin-acquaintances, and that acquaintanceship is discriminated from the
ignorance of the foolish by the oil-vessel, and its counterpart - the brightly
burning torch. The others are refused, not, as not
virgins, but as deficient in
intimacy with the bridegroom. The qualification which
comes into notice at the awakening is something more than what is
required merely in order to enter the kingdom. It is some special quality, not
answering to simple grace, or the virginity of the person, but one having relation to the special glory of the bridal bouquet.
This demand the one party can meet, the other cannot. The second brightness of
the torch, after its trimming on awaking, answers to a second inward
qualification of the prudent, till now concealed - their acquaintance with the
bridegroom.
The foolish, discovering
their waning lights, petition for oil. They set out in quest of it. Now neither
the hypocrite nor the true believer could fall into error so
gross as is supposed, if we make the oil to signify the ‘converting grace’ of God. Who knows not, that this
fellow cannot grant it? Who of the lost will not awake to the full conviction
that his opportunity is gone for ever, when once he
arises from the dead? “After death,
the judgment.”
*“This interpretation by Robert Govett, which understands by
the oil in the vessels (Matt. 25: 4) not the Spirit indwelling, but the Spirit
outpoured, that on-fall of the Holy Spirit on those already believers which
produced inspiration and miracle, is worthy of most careful consideration.”
D. M. Panton.
6 - Panton
1. I suppose
it will be granted that by oil is meant the grace of
the Holy Ghost. And this is twofold: either
sanctifying or miraculous. If then I show that the second supply is not
sanctifying grace, it will follow that it is miraculous endowment, or ‘the
gift of grace.’
2.
That it is not any difference in degree of sanctification which is in question
is clear from this - that then the parable would supply us with no rule by
which to discern between wise and foolish. For if you tell me only, that the
difference lies in degree of sanctification, if you do not point out the degree,
I must be either terrified or secure. Terrified, if I think I have not the
degree requisite, while none can satisfy me what the degree required is; or
secure, that I have some grace, and why may that not be enough to set me among
the worse?
3. It cannot
be any degree of sanctification, for this oil gives no light to the
world. It is unemployed in good works, or the light of the torch.
As
being a distinct supply, it follows that the oil in the torch might be without
that in the vessel, or vice versa. But it is not
true that any degree of the grace of sanctification can be distinct from its
supply in good works. There cannot be
two supplies of it, independent one of the other. But miraculous gift is
distinct from, and may be independent of grace (Matt. 7).
4. If they are
all [regenerate] believers, the
difference must be one which is not essential to [eternal] salvation. And among
things not essential to [this presently possessed] salvation, what so great as the difference
between the possession or the want of the gifts of the Holy Ghost?
5. It is met and sustained by fact. Between the believers of
modern times and the ancient church, there is, in this particular, just the
difference supposed: the one possessing, the other
wanting, the gifts of the Spirit.
6. A
consideration of the order in which the wise and foolish appear beautifully
confirms this. We have the wise presented first, then the foolish (verse
2).
Then again the foolish, and lastly the wise (verse 3). Thus the wise come first and last; the foolish occupy the
intermediate space. And has it not been exactly thus
with the Spirit’s gifts? They were possessed at first, and then ceased, and the
whole dreary interval of sixteen hundred years has
been taken up by [regenerate] believers
destitute of them. We might conclude, therefore, that as gifted believers began
the series, and ungifted ones have followed, so in the last days gifted believers - [with miraculous
gifts from the Holy Spirit] - will rise again, and close the train. But we can
show by Scripture, independently of inference, that such will be the case (Acts 2: 17, 18; Mark 13: 11; Luke 21: 14, 15; Rev. 16: 6; 18: 24; 2 Tim. 3: 8; Jas. 5: 7).
7. On the
taking it or not, the greatest stress is laid throughout the parable. On
purpose to set it in the strongest light possible, the wise and foolish agree
together in every particular but this. And the
difference is optional; for in things within our power alone can wisdom or
folly be seen. So are the gifts of the Spirit made to rest upon
our asking for them or not (Luke 11: 13; 1 Cor. 14: 1). In the
asking for, and receiving these, therefore, that vigilance may consist which is
the lesson drawn from the parable by our Lord.
8. They are
the “powers of the
coming age” (Heb. 6: 5). And answerably thereto, this oil is seen to come into play when the new age is begun.
9. They that
sleep with the oil vessel, awake with it. And even thus,
the ‘gifts’ of God are unrepented of (Rom. 11: 29).
10. The
additional oil was the riches of the wise virgins, the want of it the property
of the foolish, at the coming of the
bridegroom. Now this is just the place seen to be occupied
by the Spirit’s gifts, in connection with the coming of the Lord Jesus. “I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace of God which is
given you by Jesus Christ, that in everything ye
are enriched
by him in all utterance and in all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that ye lack no gift, waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ;
who also shall confirm you to the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 1: 4-8).
11. Exhortations
to seek and to pray for the gifts occur not unfrequently,
in token that the additional oil is not in vain. “Covet
earnestly the best gifts” (1 Cor. 12: 31). “Desire spiritual gifts, but
rather that ye may prophesy” (14: 1).
12. “But,” someone may say, who is satisfied with the
argument here propounded, “what if I fall asleep after
praying for the gifts, without obtaining one?” The answer is easy. Then
the responsibility rests not with you, but with God. You are a wise virgin: you
have done what you could to procure the oil. Be assured the Lord will remember
you.
7 - C. S. Price
Of one thing we are very sure. There will be a full restoration of the
apostolic gifts and the full power of Pentecost before the coming of the
Lord. The faithful few
who are true to God - the overcomers,
to them that place their all upon the
altar of a full consecration - God will pour out in the
fullest measure the power that was
given to the disciples. … We believe that there will be miracles of
healing, supernatural manifestations of God’s mighty power,
that will break even the most callous hearts. There will be another
outpouring, this time a cloudburst of the latter rain. We not only feel it in
our spirit, but the Word of God corroborates what we feel. Be true, my friends;
keep tight hold of His hand. God has some wonderful things in store for you.
*
* *
5
THE TEN VIRGINS
CALL TO CONSECRATION
By H. S.
GALLIMORE, M.A.*
* Chaplain, Chinese
-------
Few of the Parables have aroused such interest as this (Matt. 25: 1). Over none has there been more divergence of opinion. This expositor
advances one interpretation; that, another. Often the
interpretations are mutually contradictory.
Forgetting for the moment the innumerable tracts, pamphlets,
dissertations, and sermons on the subject, let us adopt the attitude of a child
which opens its lesson book and ponders some simple yet vivid allegory for the
first time; depending on the context for conclusions and unembarrassed by
theological subtleties and niceties.
If, in biblical symbology, ten is, in fact, the number of
testing, and five the number of grace, the ten virgins seem to figure the
church of the end. The kingdom of heaven
is likened, not to five virgins, but to ten. Ten was
sufficient for a company. Ten Jews were entitled to a synagogue.
Thus the ten virgins represent the visible
church at the moment of the Second Coming. Nay, more: they typify the actual
church militant; the genuine, not the sham believers.
Yet, though all were entitled to the robe of virginity; though all went forth
to meet the bridegroom; though all were differentiated from the surrounding
neighbours who had little or no interest in the
approaching wedding, nevertheless their degree of preparedness was
not uniformly the same. Five were wise and five were foolish.
The wisdom of the wise consisted in providing sufficiency of
oil the folly of the foolish, in not providing enough.
An oriental wedding commonly
takes place at night. In the present
instance, the ten virgins were to join the bridal procession en route to the
bridegroom’s house, the future home of the bride. There, they were to share the
festivities. The party, however, was long in coming; the hours dragged by; the
night wore on. The virgins first nodded, then slumbered, then slept. Meanwhile,
the lamps, the wicks becoming charred, began to burn
low.
Though their preparation was complete, even the wise virgins
lost somewhat of, should we say, the excitement over the interesting scene in
which they were shortly to be participants. But, at midnight, when least expected, when
all were sunk in deep sleep, the cry rings out - “Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye
out to meet him!”
And now it is that the scene assumes a solemn
and dramatic aspect; but nothing to the anti-type. A few moments suffices the
wise to replenish their lamps and clean the wicks. The foolish, on the other
hand, find that the oil which lasted during the hours of
waiting is not enough for the crowning ceremony. They trim their lamps
and find them dying.
Nor can their wiser sisters help them. The oil is
incommunicable. It is no more available at the crucial moment than
intercessions of saints, mothers’ prayers, and so-called works of
supererogation will be at the Day of the Lord and the Marriage Supper of the
Lamb.
Furthermore, their own prayer for admission; was unavailable
the failure was irretrievable; the door
was shut.
Late, late, so late; and dark the
night and chill!
Late, late, so late but we can enter
still!
Too late, too late ye cannot enter
now!
When studying parables, we have to distinguish between the
essential part and the trappings. The tarrying is an essential part. It was a
hint of long delay. So were touches here and there
elsewhere, scattered through the New Testament. Such were - “My lord
delayeth his coming”; “After a long time the lord of those servants
cometh”; and so forth. The early Church was organized on a
permanent basis. Yet the possibility of an immediate coming was
never overlooked.
How are we to interpret the midnight cry? Does it foreshadow
that mighty, world-wide preaching of the Second Coming
which has gathered in millions of souls during the past hundred years? One
believes it does; but the point cannot be laboured, inasmuch as the said
converts were allowed ample opportunity for salvation
and sanctification.
That the oil typifies
the Holy Spirit, with His gifts and graces, and, in particular, love to the
Lord, all enlightened exegetes are agreed.
This, in fact, is the crux of the parable.
Are we, then, to write down the five foolish virgins as lost?
Here we have deep divergence of opinion, with sometimes, alas,
acrimony more fitted to a ‘Council of Trent’ than assemblies of modern [regenerate and Protestant] believers. Rightly or wrongly, one
sees two classes, and, by implication, a
third: the consecrated; the unsanctified; and the
unsaved. It is primarily a question of attitude. I anticipate an abundant salvation for the first class, a lesser blessedness for the
second, and total rejection for the third.
This interpretation seems to harmonize with other outstanding
prophecies. Though a member of the household, the unfaithful minister who “ate and drank
with the drunken” was
to be assigned his portion “with the unbelievers” - the outsiders, at the Great Tribulation.
Equally significant are the apocalyptic groups.
Most suggestive of all, however, is the First Resurrection.
Only the blessed and holy have part therein. The attempt to divide
mankind into definitely good and bad breaks down; for, between blessed
and holy and cursed and unholy, rank intermediate grades. One is forced to the conclusion that only the
consecrated will be taken at the Rapture of the Saints. Nevertheless,
seeing that divine mercy is still operant on a great scale, many who are left behind may stand with the
Tribulation martyrs on the sea of glass and win the crown of life.
Too much stress should not be laid on
the words “I know you not” or, rather, they should be interpreted discreetly. There are many senses in which Christ knows mankind. Citing Augustine, Trench takes the knowing here as a mutual, a reciprocal knowledge.
He deduces from the Parable that the preparation for eternity is the work not
of a moment or an hour but a lifetime. The lesson our Lord inculcates is: “Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of
man cometh.”
Whatever our school of thought, how incumbent is it on each of
us not to have counted himself to have apprehended, but to strive earnestly if haply we
may through grace be reckoned worthy to attain ‘that
resurrection from among the dead,’ and to enter in with the Lord at his [Pre- Great Tribulation Rapture (Revelation
3: 10)] coming!
* *
*
6
THE TEN VIRGINS
By D. M. PANTON
The virgin character is one of God’s symbols for the regenerate
soul. “I espoused you”, says Paul - you, all the Corinthian Christians “to one husband, that I might
present you as a pure virgin to Christ”
(2 Cor. 11: 2). In the TEN VIRGINS - virgins in Christ’s sight, ‘not
merely virgins before the world’ (Stein) - this truth is strongly
reinforced by the figure of lit lamps. “The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord” (Prov. 20: 27): oil is the unfailing figure of the Spirit of God: so all ten
virgins are souls burning with the flame of spiritual life; lamps actually
kindled; God’s lights in the world; like John, “a burning and a shining lamp”
(John 5: 35).
Moreover, all are Bridesmaids, and so already clothed, as invited guests, with the wedding garment - the imputed
righteousness of Christ: the parable belongs to bridesmaids alone. All Ten - with torches in hand - thought
that the Advent was immediately at hand, and eagerly responded to its call. But it is the responsibility side of the Virgin Character, as ten - so Ten Commandments, Ten
Plagues, Ten Talents, etc. - always indicates responsibility: so the Ten
Virgins are divided not into good and bad, much less into saved and lost, but
into ‘wise’ - prudent, far-seeing, rightly
regardful of their own interests - and ‘foolish’ - imprudent, improvident, spiritually
thriftless. The same reward is proposed and
suggested to all, the inaugural Banquet of the [Millennial] Kingdom.
The Distinction
So then we find that the one quality
which is emphasised, which severed the Virgins into two groups, and which made
the startling distinction of destiny, is Readiness. “The foolish, when they took their lamps,
took no oil with them: but the wise took oil in
their vessels” - the
cans or flasks they carried with the torches, for replenishing - “with their
lamps”. The wise and foolish virgins are identical in nine points, they differ only in one. All were virgins
- regenerate; all ten lamps were lit - by the indwelling [Holy] Spirit; all expected the Bridegroom - at the
Second Advent; all go forth to meet Him - outside the camp; all fall asleep -
in death; all hear the midnight cry - the Advent shout; all [hope to] rise
together - in resurrection; all trim their lamps - anxious to appear shining
before the Lord; and all appear, for separating judgment, before the
Bridegroom. The solitary difference between them lies
in the absence of a supply of additional
oil: it is not a
difference between those who have some oil and those who have no oil; but
between those who have some and those who have more. So far from the foolish being unlit lamps,
unregenerate souls, it is the very forefront of their offence that their
self-security rests on their being lit lamps - they are confident that the flame of
regeneration, the indwelling of the [Holy] Spirit is amply sufficient
preparation for the Advent. The lamp,
possessed by all, is an invitation to the Wedding Festival: the mistake the Foolish make
is to regard it as a passport. The prudent virgins, on the contrary -
corresponding to the faithful servants who trade with the talents - made ready,
consciously and deliberately, by an experience of sanctity unknown to the
foolish, and a sanctity achieved after the kindling
of the torch.
The Sleep
Now one great event befalls all Ten
Virgins. “Now while the bridegroom
tarried, they all slumbered” - fell sick - “and slept” -
died. That the sleep is innocent is
obvious, because it befalls the wise equally with the foolish, and is nowhere rebuked, and so nearly all the ancient
interpreters expound it as death: had it been spiritual sleep, the conferring
on the wise virgins of supreme reward would have been utterly impossible. It is extraordinarily significant, and
pregnant with warning, that all [regenerate] believers - manifestly believers, with shining lamps -
can fall asleep exactly alike, indistinguishable, both supposing themselves
perfectly prepared for the Advent; yet
half are ready for the Lord, and half are not - and nothing but the
event will reveal which is which. The very delay
is designed as the discriminating test: as years and decades pass
we are proving ourselves
wise or foolish. For here is the whole
slumbering Church. The Ten asleep - divided into wise and
foolish - and the Two awake, - “two are in the field,
one is taken, and one is left: watch therefore” - one rapt and the other
un-rapt - make up the Twelve of the whole
The Waking
Now comes the crash of Advent, with
its earthquake-shock, bursting all locks and betraying all secrets. “But at midnight” - midnight is
the point of junction between two separate days, a division of epochs – “there is a
cry” - apparently
from the Lord’s attendant angels - “Behold the bridegroom! Come
ye forth to meet him”. The virgins had ‘come forth’ before, from the world: now they ‘come forth’, from the tomb. As all [‘accounted worthy’ (Luke 20: 35)] arise at once, all are believers: for “the rest of the dead lived
not until the thousand years
should be finished” (Rev. 20: 5): it is an axiom of Scripture that the wicked - [i,e., both regenerate (1 Cor. 5: 13) and
unregenerate] - and the holy
do not rise together. All the lamps had
gone on burning through the night; all saving grace
survives death: but now the foolish discover their disastrous mistake. “Our lamps,” they cry, “are going out” (R.V.): not gone out, for the virgins do not
ask for kindling, but for oil. It is the same word as is used (1 Thess. 5: 19) for the quenching of the [Holy] Spirit. They had thought that they would shine before the Lord by regenerating
grace alone: now,
shocked into wisdom, they are not called foolish after
arising - too late: not an hour, not a minute, remains for readiness. He is here. In that day no man can protect us from the revelation of our own
works; not because he will not, but because he cannot. “And they that were READY went in with him” - the Bridegroom - “for the marriage feast.”
The Refusal
For now, though at last appearing WITH the oil - therefore now as fully equipped as the rest - they
have lost the Banquet. “Afterward
came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord” - they are hearts that feel acutely their separation from Christ - “open to us”;
for nothing but the Lord’s own utterance will convince many [regenerate] believers of the truth of exclusion,
albeit even only exclusion, not from the [eternal] Kingdom, but merely from its inaugural banquet. They hope to
get as a favour what they had forfeited as aright. “But he
answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not”. Our Lord is most careful not to say what He said to empty
professors,- “I never knew you; depart from Me, ye workers
of iniquity” (Matt. 7: 23) : nor could He say it, for had He come earlier in the first shining
of their lamps, they were ready. He says, instead, I do not recognize you as guests, or, as we often put it, “I ‘cut’
you”; I know you not in the capacity for which I invited you: as you
have not paid due honour to either the Bride or the Bridegroom, I cannot rank
you with those who have.* They were
Bridesmaids, but they had fallen our of the procession. As a young lady
strikingly said some time back, when asked why she passed a certain young man
of her acquaintance without notice:- “I have unknown him.”
*“The words, ‘I know you not,’ as spoken by
the bridegroom of the parable, signify in strictness, ‘I have no personal
acquaintance with you’.”
(Govett).
Watchfulness
For, finally, we are left in no manner of
doubt by our Lord as to what the whole purpose of the parable is, its
overwhelming stress and strain. “Watch therefore, for ye know not the day nor the hour”: not, wake to life by conversion;
but, watch, as those already wide awake. All the Virgins begin prepared, but
all do not end prepared; and nothing is so deadly as
the easy doctrine that all will somehow come right, apart from urgent warning
and constant watching. The sacred oil of
sanctity can be got, for keeping a blazing lamp and a
radiant life: but without constant watchfulness, prudent foresight,
incessant guarding against danger and surprise, it will become the dying throb of an exhausted motor. “Every kind and degree of Christian goodness is an energy of Christian vigilance” (Greswell). Keep
the oil-stores replenished: keep the soul brightly
burning: grace consumes itself in burning, but “He giveth more grace.” The wisdom of the child
of God consists in readiness; and readiness can only be maintained by constant grace.*
* That the Ten Virgins are the dead saints of nearly two
thousand years, and that half of them possess the extra oil, makes it
impossible that the extra oil is confined to the miraculous gifts; for all
supernatural gifts had vanished by the end of the second century. The
distinction between salvation and sanctification - all saved, for all have lit
lamps, but half losing sanctification, for their lamps are
going out - exactly fits the parable.
The [foolish] five are bridesmaids, but their backsliding has lost them the
marriage feast. In the words of Calvin:- “This exhortation is to confirm
believers in perseverance. Christ
says that believers need to have incessant
supplies of courage, to support the flame which is kindled in their hearts;
otherwise their zeal will fail ere they
have completed the journey.”
The Lamp
Now this Bridal Procession has spoken life to dead souls. For
what is the vital point to the unsaved? Your lamp is unlit. You
have oil neither in torch nor flask. “The spirit of
a man is the lamp of the Lord”; but a lamp is utterly useless
unlit. Painted fire needs
no oil. In the Canton de Vaud, in
*
* *
7
THE BRIDE AND THE
MARRIAGE FEAST
By G. H. LANG.
The Father has appointed over His kingdom a king, even the
Lamb who suffered in meekness, the Lion who conquered by might. It is the perfect combination of these two qualities that
qualifies Him as the perfect Ruler. But a king desires
a consort to share His glory and to satisfy and to display His love. The hour
for the fulfilling of this desire has arrived: “the marriage of the Lamb is come,” and heaven rejoices with exceeding
gladness and cries, Hallelujah!
1. The
Time.
The Lord has already descended as a
thief and taken to Himself those who were looking for Him (Heb. 9: 28). The armies of the Beast are now mustering for the last battle (16. 13-16); but it has not yet been fought: the Word of God and His armies have not
yet rushed in irresistible might upon the Beast and his forces (19: 11-21). At this point, before the Mighty
One goes forth to war, He celebrates the nuptials with His now ready bride, so
that when He shall be manifested she too shall be manifested with Him in glory
(Cl. 3: 4: 1 Jn. 3: 2, 3).
2. Anticipations.
From of old the Father had designed for the Son of His love
this bliss of having as His own peculiar possession, and in His own proper
realm, the heavens, a consort formed of ransomed sinners of the human race.
They were given to Him by the Father (Jn. 17:
6) in a more special sense than the general gift of universal
heirship and ownership (Heb. 1: 2; Jn. 3: 35; Matt. 11: 27). He purchased them at the fabulous price of His own
priceless blood: “Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her”
(Eph. 5: 25), “in order that He
might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto Himself a people for His own
possession, zealous of good works” (Tit. 2: 14).
This so ancient design had been intimated
long in advance. Eve had been brought to Adam to be his
joy and help in dominion over the renewed earth (Gen. 2: 18-25). Rebecca had been brought to Isaac,
the son and heir (Gen. 24), and Ruth, the alien, to Boaz, the mighty and
rich (Ruth. 2:
1), as if to intimate that Gentiles would be joined with Jews
in the bridal blessings. In a quite special sense Israel, as a people, had been
taken by Jehovah and associated with Himself in a privilege and nearness
granted to no other people, a relationship often pictured by this same figure
of husband and wife (Isa. 50: 1; Jer. 3: Ezek. 16). And though for unfaithfulness Israel has
been given a bill of divorcement, yet, as a people, shall she, on repentance,
be again received into relationship, as the passages cited, and many others,
show, and shall stand on earth at the King’s right hand, the place of honour (Psa. 45:
9-11). God does not change His mind as to
His gifts and calling, though human folly and sin may defer the accomplishment
of His call and the enjoyment of His gifts.
All this, however, was of earth as to its sphere, and but
anticipatory of the higher joys and honours designed for realization in the
heavenly portion of the one kingdom. From the time of Abraham at least God had
spoken to men of that world above and men of faith had embraced the prospect and
fixed upon it as their hope (Heb. 11: 9-16). In this present age of Christ’s rejection by the world
that has become the sole prospect of faith, for in this world the faithful are
promised nothing but the bare necessaries of a pilgrim and are exhorted to “set their hope perfectly
[that is, undividedly and uninterruptedly] on the favour that is being brought, unto us at,
the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1: 13).
This supreme favour is that of being associated with Christ glorified in a fellowship
so intimate, so tender, so glorious, and so useful, as is pictured by a bride
with her husband.
This union will crown and complete the program of God for the
universe. It will perfect the joy of the
Son, for no union more intimate and sweet is known in
creation. Then shall He “see of the
travail of His soul and be satisfied” (Isa. 53: 11). And it is
the highest honour that ever can be available for the redeemed, since the Bride sits with the Bridegroom on His throne,
and God never can set any one above His Son. Thus
this secret counsel concerning Christ and the church [of the firstborn] in glory “completes the word of God,” that is, brings to full development
His message to the universe (Cl. 1: 25-27), and is necessarily the final unfolding
of His counsel concerning the universe in relation to His Son. Well might the
apostle, well may we, “endure all things for the elect’s sake, that they also may
obtain salvation, that which is in Christ
Jesus, with glory eternal”* (2 Tim. 2: 10).
[* NOTE.
The Greek word translated ‘eternal,’ as
used in this context of the saints’ endurance, has been understood as referring
to the time of Christ’s ‘age-lasting glory’ upon this earth: and the ‘salvation’ referred to here is yet future
- “the salvation of souls:” (1 Pet. 1: 9; Heb. 10: 39, R.V.)]
3. Who form the Bride?
As to what persons
will form this exalted company there have been differences of opinion. Some
seem to include at last all the saved of all the ages. This is contrary to the
figure used. A bride is only one among the myriads of a
king’s subjects,
though the most exalted of them in rank.
If all were the bride, over whom would she and the king reign? As remarked
before, the bride cannot be the guests
at the wedding feast. Again, Cl. 21: 12 will
show
Others have limited the bride to the saved of this present
age. But it is hard
to see how those men of faith of any age who embraced the heavenly hope, lived
in consequence as pilgrims and aliens among men, and looked for the heavenly
city as their portion, shall not have part in those privileges. That in those earlier days the figure of
bridal relationship may not have been made known to
them, and that so they did not perhaps appreciate fully what glories were
latent in their hope, would be no reason for them not reaching its fulness in
the fulfilment. None of us now appreciates
fully what is in store. In Hb. 11: 40 their
and our perfecting is conjoined.
But again, the school of teaching last in
question insists that all the saved of this age, without exception, will
certainly share His regal, bridal glory.
That this is the present call, offer, and ideal of God is true. See Eph. 5: 25-33; Cl. 1: 21-23; for
God is calling us “into His own kingdom and glory” (1 Th. 2: 12), even “his eternal glory” (1 Pt. 5: 10), not to some
creaturely glory. Such terms declare far
more than forgiveness and the possession of eternal life, in which blessings
all the saved share alike and for ever. But to share God’s own eternal glory is evidently far more
and higher that to partake in those initial mercies common to all the saved of all
ages, without which indeed they would not be of the saved at all.
Yet it is too often overlooked that
in no sphere does God coerce the subjects of His grace.
He respects fully the gift of free will wherever He has granted this
noble endowment. Hence the creature can “fall short of
the grace of God” (Hb.
12: 15) and receive that grace in vain (2 Cr. 6:
1), which last is not the same as to reject that grace
entirely. Let it be
observed that:
(a) It is God’s
desire (wish, longing, but not fiat) that all men should
be saved. For this
He has made provision in Christ Jesus, “Who gave himself a ransom for all”
(1 Tm. 2: 3-6).
But not all are willing to be saved, and not
all will be.
(b) It was the call of God that all who left
Egypt with Moses should reach Canaan, and at the Red Sea the entrance of them
all was celebrated in advance (Ex. 15: 13-17). But only two of the adult men entered the land.
(c) It was the offer of God that all of
that redeemed nation should be priests (Ex. 19: 6). In the fact only one family of them has had
this honoured service.
(d) Of that family one branch secured the
privilege in perpetuity on account of the faithfulness of its head (Nm. 25: 10-13); but
(e) Of his family
one branch, that of Eli, was deprived of the honour on
account of unfaithfulness (1 Sm. 3: 10-14).
(f) God would have gathered into safety
all
Will it be affirmed that all of this has no lesson and
warning for the heirs of the heavenly calling?
Then were it the case that not all Scripture is written for our
admonition upon whom the ends of the ages are come (1 Cor. 10:
11).
Because of this unvarying law, that God respects the freedom
of action of man, and holds each responsible for its use (and otherwise how
shall God judge man?), it follows that the response of the heart of man is
required to the offer of the heart of God, and without this response the
privilege offered will not be secured. Every offer is open to all of the
persons to whom it is made; it is realised by such only as embrace it; and
moreover, it is “through faith and long-patience (See Greek …)” that every boon promised is at last gained, in
this age as in earlier times (Hb. 6: 11, 12). Hence
arise the “ifs” and exhortations and warnings of the New Testament so very
frequently addressed to [regenerate] believers and churches. It is greatly to be deplored that many parry the
force of the mass of passages of this order by transferring them to false
professors, whereas they are so often plainly addressed to true believers and
sometimes to believers of quite noble quality, as, for example, in Hebrews: see 6: 9-12 and 10: 32-36. We grieve for the responsibility they must
carry at the judgment seat of Christ who have thus promoted laxity of life by
encouraging believers to disregard the warnings God has multiplied.
4. The
Fitness of the Bride.
But whatever view be taken of the
foregoing question, it were well indeed that nothing should lessen the effect
upon the conscience of the treatment of the subject in this passage. The whole stress is laid
upon the moral fitness of the bride for the grand occasion. “His wife hath made herself ready” for the union “it was granted unto her that she should array herself.”
Her bridal Attire is not that meretricious splendour of the
great harlot, purple and scarlet robes, glittering with gold, jewels, and
pearls (17: 4), which did but conceal the hidden
deformity and corruption. The holy bride
wears only fine linen, glisteringly white and pure. Of old, that was the attire of the high
priest when he entered annually into the Holy of Holies before the Presence (Lv. 16: 4). That fine linen was spun by human hands (Ex. 35: 25), and similarly the attire of the bride
is of her own making; “the fine linen is the
righteous acts of the saints” (8).
Even the A.V. rendering does not allow of this being that
righteousness of God which is imputed to the sinner upon faith in Christ, for
it is there termed “the righteousness of saints,” not the righteousness of God. But the meaning of the former term is fixed by its prior use
at c. 15: 4. The A.V. there renders inexactly, “Thy judgments are made manifest,” but the R.V. properly by “Thy righteous
acts have been made manifest.” “This clean, glistering, by-us-made
fabric represents the righteous actions
of the saints ... the sum of the saintly acts of the members of Christ, wrought
in them by His Spirit” (Swete)
and so Milligan:-
“These acts
are not the imputed righteousness of
Christ, although only in Christ are the acts performed. They express the moral and religious condition of those
who constitute the bride. No outward righteousness alone, with which we might
be clothed as with a garment, is a sufficient preparation for future
blessedness. An inward change is not less necessary, a personal and spiritual
meetness for the inheritance of the
saints in the light. Christ must not only be on us as a robe,
but in us as a life, if we are to have the hope of [sharing His] glory (Cl. 1: 27).
Let us not be afraid of words like these. Rightly viewed, they in no way interfere with
our completeness in the Beloved alone, or with the fact that not by works of
righteousness that we have done, but by grace, are we saved through faith, and
that not of ourselves ; it is the gift of God (Eph. 2: 8). All our salvation is
of Christ, but the change upon us must be internal as well as external. The elect are foreordained to be conformed to
the image of God’s Son (Rm. 8: 29); and the Christian
condition is expressed in the words which say, not only ‘Ye were justified,’ but also ‘Ye were washed, ye were sanctified
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the
Spirit of our God’ (1 Cr. 6: 11).”
And the literal rendering of this last passage “ye washed yourselves” (R.V. margin), emphasizes yet more the truth in question, and
shows the harmony of Paul and John upon this truth.
It should be noted:
(1) That the imputed righteousness which justifies is put on the believer by God, not by himself, being reckoned to him, not assumed by him.
There is
a precision in the words of God corresponding exactly to the facts of things.
The wife “arrays herself,” and yet it is “given unto her” to do this. (Here again the A.V.
weakly gives “that she should be arrayed,” hiding the vital
point that it is her own act). If
the Spirit of holiness had not made holiness possible no member of the church
could or would have done holy acts; but though every holy deed is done by the
grace of the Spirit, it is the saint
who does them. It is God who works in us both to will and to work; but it is we who must
work out this salvation into a life of holy deeds (Ph. 1: 12, 13); and if we grieve and
quench the Spirit, and so frustrate the work of God within, then the fine linen will not be woven.
And in no other attire will any one
share in the bridal glory, though in the imputed righteousness every
believer stands justified in law. But the pardon
of a one-time rebel woman is by no means the same as her becoming later the
wife of her sovereign, nor does any necessity exist why the king should think
of such an honour for her.
All this is illustrated in the history of Esther. From being a captive slave
she is to be exalted to be queen. Everything of clothing and ornament that she
needed was the gift of the king, for she had nothing suitable. But she had to put them on, so as to approach the king, as it is written, “Esther put on
her royal apparel” (Es. 5: 1).
Eph. 5: 25-27 is clear and weighty.
(1) “Christ also loved the church”: this is the divine origin of all her
prospects.
(2) “and gave Himself up for
her”: this is the
amazing price that frees the slave-girl, or pardons the rebel, and by which the
king acquires all rights in her. But though redemption
has been effected once for all, she
cannot pass straight from the slave market, or the condemned cell, to
the royal palace and the throne. Much is required to fit her person for the
total change of scene and life; and so
(3) Christ
purchased the church “that He might sanctify her,” might make her actually holy, even as
she is already righteous by imputation. And this so indispensable work He effects by “the laver [composed of] the water in the word.” The laver in the Tabernacle was a
vessel into which water was put so that the priests
should wash repeatedly and keep clean. The bathing at their consecration was
necessary but was not sufficient for entrance into the holy places. Cleansed lepers had to bathe, but that did not
grant access to the presence of God in the Tabernacle (Lv. 14). The
priests must also wash their hands and feet again and again,
on penalty of death, twice threatened, if
they attempted service to God unwashed (Ex. 30: 17-21). Thus also Jesus took a basin,
poured water thereinto, and proceeded to
wash the feet of His followers, so as to impress heavily upon us that actual
holiness is indispensable to fellowship with Him: “If I wash thee not thou hast no part with Me” (Jn. 13). He did not say “in
The laver is here (Eph. 5) used as a picture of the Word of
God: “water in
the word.” The water (as
always when a type) means the [Holy] Spirit of God: “living water
... this spake He of the Spirit” (Jn. 7: 37-39). Christ speaks to the
redeemed believer: if obedience be at once rendered, the grace of the Spirit is at once experienced, making obedience possible. This is the law of matters spiritual: “Go wash … He went, and came seeing”: “take up thy bed and walk”; and obeying, doing at once what
he could not do, the energy was
given to do it. A father speaks to his boy about a disagreeable habit; if
the boy gives heed, the word of his father cleanses that habit out of the boy’s
life: if he disregards his father, he remains disfigured in character and life.
Justification [by faith] is an initial benefit, granted once for all; sanctification is a life-long process;
the priest must wash his hands and his feet to the end of his course; and therefore:
“Let no man
think that sudden, in a minute,
All is accomplished, and
the work is done:
Though with thy earliest
dawn thou should’st begin it,
Scare were
it ended with thy setting sun.”
(3) This gracious and indispensable work
in the believer is thus wrought by Christ; by Him
speaking to the church. Thus it is given unto her to become pure. But words must be
obeyed or they remain inoperative, and thus “it is given unto her to array
herself” by doing the righteous acts directed
by the Word of God. All is of grace; but of grace used, not grace abused, of grace obeyed, not of
grace neglected. For the grace of God instructs us “to the intent that, denying
ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this
present age,” and only so living are we truly “looking for the blessed hope
and appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ”; for “He gave himself for us that
He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify
unto Himself a people for His own possession, zealous of good works” (Tt. 2: 11-14). Therefore “every one
that hath this hope set on Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure” (1 Jn. 3: 3).
To the justified, who “have obtained like precious faith with
us in the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Pt. 1: 1-4) Peter adds the encouraging assurance
that “God hath granted unto us all things that pertain to life and
godliness,” thus
making holiness of life possible. Unto this end God has
further “granted unto us His precious and exceeding great promises.” As a father, starting his loved son
in business, may hand him a roll of promissory notes issued by a bank, and
payable on demand, so God has enriched His children for all the demands of a
holy life. We secure the spiritual
wealth promised by the prayer of faith and by obedience to our Father’s
instructions; and as His character thus becomes
increasingly developed in us we become “partakers of divine nature.” This is not the same as having
eternal life, though a consequence of it. All human beings have human life, but
their natures differ; some being harsh by nature, some kind; some active, some
indolent; and so on. All of the family of God have the life of the Father, but
they differ in the degree in which what is natural to God (as to be holy, or to love enemies) becomes natural to them. And this difference is proportionate to the measure of the
appropriation by each of the divine promises. Neglect of the [conditional] promises leaves the soul poor, as to
neglect banknotes leaves the pocket poor.
Further, parental discipline, through the trials of life,
however caused, is another contributing element. The Father scourges every son He
receives, that they “may become partakers of His holiness” (Hb. 12: 10). As justified
they already possess His righteousness; but they are to be made to share His
holiness; and blessed is he who humbles himself under the mighty hand of God,
even when the wicked may be the hand that presses, instead of resenting and
resisting the discipline. Such advance in
holiness and so in preparation for the bridal honour and joy.
(4) Without blemish. It is in view of
the bridal day that Christ
has loved, redeemed, and now is sanctifying the church, “in order that
He might present the church to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be
holy and without blemish.”
These terms, “spot, wrinkle, holy, without blemish,” have reference to external appearance:
the two former denote surface defects, the two latter visible excellence. The
last is a specially significant and priestly term. An animal to be dedicated to
God, and accepted by Him, had to be without visible blemish, and sternly did
the Holy One complain when blemished beasts were presented (Ml. 1:
6 ff.). The priest, too, had to be without physical defect, or he
could not officiate in holy
things. He was to keep himself
scrupulously clean in walk and associations, and also
he must be without blemish as to external form (Lv. 21). Now the persons pictured as a bride are also
described as “priests unto God” (Rv. 1: 6). Both figures demand the same moral condition; the one for priestly access and service, the other for intimate
association with Him who “offered
Himself without blemish unto God” (Hb. 9: 14).
The standard is high, yet attainable by the [Holy] Spirit through obedience to the Word. The histories of Joseph, Samuel, and Daniel are narrated at length and in detail. Each was surrounded with gross moral depravity, but God records
nothing against either. This does not mean that they were actually sinless -
only Christ was that; but it does mean that they walked before men without visible defilement and disfigurement of
life. And thus Paul wrote to believers in a wicked
heathen city, “that ye may be blameless and harmless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked
and perverse generation” (Ph. 2: 12-16). It is possible
for the believer to “keep himself unspotted from the world” (Js. 1: 27), and he who thus walks in white
garments here and now shall be permitted to array himself for fellowship with
Christ as part of the bride at last. (See on 3, 4,
5 above, an consider also 2 Cr. 7: 1 and. 11: 2,
3.). It is for each to weave his own pure
bridal attire, by the grace of God and to the praise alone
of the glory of that grace. The Bride will thus be to the pleasure
and honour of the Bridegroom.
THE MARRIAGE FEAST
The union of Ahasuerus and Esther took
place in the privacy of the royal palace: the wedding feast followed later (Es. 2:
16-18). Thus here
also, there is simply an announcement of the honour of being one of the king’s
guests; it is not stated that the
marriage supper takes place at this precise moment. Inasmuch as it seems
that the guests will include persons on earth when the Bridegroom returns here
(Mt. 22:
1-14; 25: 1-13), it appears that the “feast” will take place on earth at the opening, of the [millennial] kingdom era. See also Mt. 26: 29; Lk. 22: 18, 30.
Here, then, are three distinct ideas:
(1) The guests are not the bride; (2)
there is to be an interval between the “marriage” and the “feast”; (3)
the latter is to be on earth. Perhaps these features offer a clue to the exact
meaning of some of Christ’s prophetic parables, but so large a subject cannot be now treated.
The omission of the bride and of her
union from those parables is significant, but the significance has been largely missed, by later teaching of the New
Testament as to the bride having been read back into the parables. The omission
harmonizes with the feature elsewhere attributed to the bride that she is to be composed, not of all the saved, even of this age, but of such from among the saved as are, by grace, ever watchful
prayerful, separated from the world,
undefiled, walking in white garments of their own weaving. Within the
vaster company of the rest the saved is the realm
where the Lord’s parables, and many other passages, have application. Blessed are they who are guests, and unhappy are they who miss even this
privilege, such as the guest without
a wedding garment, or the foolish
virgins, or the unfaithful steward.
And beyond this area again lies the still wider realm of those at the End Times
who had never even heard the Bridegroom’s fame nor seen His glory (Is. 56:
19), but to whom will then go forth the call of Is. 55:
1, “Ho, every one
that thirsteth come ye to the waters.”
The Lord when here
stated the principles upon which He will deal with His household, and these
principles will apply to all who have been of that household throughout this
age; but the strict application, as made by Christ, was to those servants He
will find on earth when He shall actually return and it is to these then alive
that the details given will apply. Therefore He did not in His
parables introduce the bride since she will have been completed and removed
prior to His descent to the earth. From this lack of mention it has been inferred, but without warrant, that she
will have been removed before ever the End Days arrive, and that she will
include every child of God, dead or
still on earth, of this whole age. These inferences, and others dependent upon them, have confused the subject, and also have greatly
weakened the solemn warnings as to the moral state which must characterize
each [disciple] who is to attain to the highest status and honours in the
kingdom.
Such distinctions as have been noted were
before suggested in the Old Testament. At Esther’s marriage feast there was
not merely one general crowd of guests, but they are differentiated into “the king’s
princes and servants” (Es. 2: 18). All of these two classes were honoured with the royal invitation; yet it is obvious that they were not Esther, the queen, nor did they include all the king’s subjects. What
if some of the guests at the marriage supper of the Lamb should be those angel
princes who have served faithfully through the spiritual conflicts with rebel
princes of these earlier ages? What if the servants shall include those
ministering spirits who even now render deacon’s service to the saints, with a view to preparing them for the coming inheritance (Hb. 1: 14)? In any
case these would not be the bride. One such styled
himself a “fellow-slave” with John and his brethren (Rv. 19: 10). The program of the Most High is far wider and grander than
most realize, and includes all His creatures, heavenly and earthly. And by far the greater part of what He has been pleased to
reveal falls for fulfilment this side of the great white
throne. Yet all too many readers and preachers seem to think of little but eternity, which, moreover, they restrict to “heaven” and “hell,” overlooking entirely that there is to be a new earth also. This limitation of thought results in the applying
to eternity of passages which have not to do therewith, with consequent confusion in interpretation.
Psalm 45 is the Song of the Royal Bridegroom. Observe the personnel introduced. The Bridegroom is at once
the Mighty Warrior with a sword (3-5) [as in the context of our passage (Rv. 19: 11-16)], and is also God (6). Yet His God has blessed and
anointed Him (2, 7); so that He is God exalted by God, a mystery made plain by the clearer
New Testament unfolding of the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Next, the Bridegroom has a queen whose place of honour is at
His right hand. Then He has “companions” (fellows) - comp. Hb. 3:
14; Rv. 3: 4, 5; 14: 4; 17: 14: and 1 Kn. 12: 8. Thus also the queen has “the virgins her companions that follow her”
(14) as in Mt. 25: 1-13, and these shall share in the “gladness and rejoicing,” that is, in the feast within the
palace (15). Others mentioned are certain
princesses (9); the people and
the family of the queen (10); and
beyond these nearer circles are the outside peoples, as of Tyre; that is,
Gentiles are seen approaching and honouring the King (12), in which noble employ the queen is
called to lead “for He is thy Lord; and
worship thou Him” (11).
All this is highly suggestive of the reality
and variety that will mark those future days when heaven and earth will be
con-joined, one kingdom, in connection with Him who is Lord of all. It introduces a rich diversity which
elevates the mind far beyond the fundamental but only initial distinction
between saved and unsaved, which is the furthest that so many ever penetrate
into the wondrous counsels of the Almighty. Here is verily a fair field and no
favour; yet “know ye not that those running in a race all run, but one receives the prize: even so run that ye may attain” the prize (1 Cr 9: 24; Ph 3: 12-16).
The thoughts added in ver. 10 may be stated
briefly.
1. “These are true words of God”: a double thought - the words are
true; they are of God. In 17: 17 the phrase “the words of God” means the announcement of His
purposes as to destroying Mystic Babylon, the harlot, and of Antichrist
reigning. Here it is the announcement that the city
2.
The angel declares himself a fellow-slave with the human servants of God, a
conjunction of status and service little realized in general from our side but
known in apostolic days (Ac. 1: 10, 11; 5: 19; 8: 26; 10: 3; 12: 11; 27: 23; Hb. 1: 14: and for
even rebel angels being made subservient to a servant of God see 1 Cr. 5: 5).
3. Being himself
a slave the angel
will not allow a fellow-slave to offer to him worship, but at once directs it
to God. But how
overwhelming must have been the visions that the apostle should forget for the
moment a truth and duty he knew so well; and later should a second time be thus
carried beyond himself (22: 8, 9).
It were well if our hearts were as deeply impressed, without this
unlawful impulse following.
4. The very spirit that animates all
true prophecy is that it bears witness to Jesus. That an angel should speak of
his Lord simply by His personal name is exceptional and observable. For a
servant to address his sovereign by his personal name were an impertinence not
readily to be forgiven. For man or angel to address
the Lord of glory, the King of kings, by His name is irreverence, if
unintentional; yet it is a common blemish in hymns and it is
heard in prayer. But in the narratives of the
Lord’s life on earth as man we read frequently that Jesus did or said this and that. The point therefore of the
angel’s choice of the name here will be that it was the spirit that animated
all true prophecy that it pointed to the great fact that God would assume humanity;
and its use after His exaltation to glory emphasizes that He retains that
humanity for ever. It is in the name of Jesus that every knee shall bow, in
confession that He, the glorified man, is Lord of all by
the will of God (Ph. 2: 10, 11).
This affords the decisive test of the divine origin of a
prophecy. See 1 Cr. 12: 3 and 1 Jn. 4: 2, 3. Consequently this testimony to Jesus
is to be “held,” not to be neglected, or varied, or
confused, or abandoned. This holding
fast and holding forth the truth concerning Jesus, even at the cost of life itself (12: 11), displays the faithful servant and
is the very essence of overcoming, of conquering.
* * *
8
THE
PREPARING BRIDE
The Bible teaches two great
facts. First, that near to the end of time [that is, near the end of this
present age] certain forces will swiftly head up world affairs into what the
Lord called the tribulation. Second, that a class of believers will escape the
tribulation by flight to Him. One is recorded in Rev. 3: 10: “Since you have
kept my command to endure patiently, I will also
keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to
test those who live on the earth.” The other is Luke 21: 34-36 : “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness, and the anxieties
of life, and that day will close on you
unexpectedly like a trap. For
it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth.
Be always on the watch, and
pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”
Whatever the Song of
Solomon teaches, there is a beautiful picture of a blessed event in the second
chapter. “Arise, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me.” If the earth is to
be troubled as it never has been ‘from the beginning of nations’ (Daniel 12: 1)
during the absence of the bride, what a blessing, what a privilege and what a
comfort to be the queen-bride of the King of Glory! To be delivered from the terrible tribulation of the world
undergoing a just judgment for its sins should be a great cause for gratitude
on the part of the faithful. See Isaiah 26: 20, 21: “Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has
passed by. See,
the Lord is coming out of his dwelling to punish the people of the earth for
their sins.
The earth will disclose the blood shed upon her; she will conceal her slain no longer.”
* *
*
9
THE WEDDING BREAKFAST
Matt. 22: 1-14
The plot of the indignant Pharisees to
destroy Him the Lord met by this further attack and warning. The parable
resembles that spoken earlier (Luke 14:
15-24), but has important differences. Both
set forth phases of the kingdom of God or heaven, but
(1) that was a deipnon, the closing meal
of the day, which suggested that the hearers were faced with the last
opportunity they would have of sharing in the kingdom. This is a breakfast (ariston), the first meal of the day,
suggesting the opening of some new era.
(2)
That supper was provided by a great man who would favour his friends; this feast is made by a king in
honour of the marriage of his own son, the heir apparent. This gives the clue as to the event here
pictured. For the “marriage” of God’s Son is declared in Rev.
19: 1-9.
It is to take place at the opening of the next age, the commencement of
the Millennial kingdom, so that the occasion is properly regarded here as a
breakfast.
As noted earlier, John the Baptist had designated Christ as a
bridegroom (John 3: 29) and the Lord had confirmed this
allusion to His future status; but He hinted that before that great day could
arrive He would have left this earth, and the consummation of His purpose and
desire must wait (Matt. 9: 15). The present parable leads on to that sublime hour but does
not complete the picture by any mention of the bride. But
when in Rev. 19 the thrilling announcement rings out
in heaven, “Hallelujah, for the Lord our
God, the Almighty, reigneth,” this makes plain at what epoch the marriage is to take place.
Yet in the passage in Revelation the occasion is
called a marriage supper (to deipnon tou gamou), which does not contradict the distinction
just noted; for as coming at the dose of this age, the crowning privilege of
all the benefits that led up to it, it may rightly be termed a supper, whereas
viewed as ushering in the new age it is a breakfast.
It is a question of aspect and emphasis.
The main point on which the parables unite is that they
present those invited as guests, and
guests at a feast. Now the guests at a supper are not the family of the host,
nor are they the bride at a wedding
breakfast: they are guests. That is to
say, the persons contemplated in these parables, though regenerate, are not
presented in that character, nor as members of the
heavenly company, the wife of the Lamb.
Nor is a feast a permanent affair. It is indeed a time of pleasure, and it is
truly an honour to be invited to a royal wedding; but
it is only a temporary matter. Therefore the message
of God as set forth in these parables is not to be expanded to the full width
of the offer of eternal salvation in Christ. Eternity is not here brought into
view, nor the eternal status of the individuals in
question, nor the eternal doom of the rejector of
Christ, whatever in fact these may be.
The Lord’s hearers on these occasions were expecting a kingdom
of glory to be set up on earth as announced by the prophets, and they counted
rightly that “blessed is he that shall eat bread in the
The Old Testament had already set in relief the guests in
contrast to the king and his spouse. Ahasuerus and Esther were distinct from
the princes and servants invited to the marriage feast (Esther 2:
18). The mighty King of Psalm 45, Messiah, had companions and a Queen, and she also had her
personal retinue, “the virgins her companions” (vers. 7, 9, 14). So
also in Rev. 19. Immediately after the announcement concerning
the Bride and the marriage, the angel proclaims “Blessed are
they who are bidden to the marriage supper” (ver. 9), and the same feature is seen in the
parable of the ten Virgins, as we shall presently observe.
The interpretation of these passages, and others, has been
confused and frustrated by the contracted vision which can see in the Word of
God only “saved” and “unsaved,” “heaven” or “hell,” time or eternity, intermediate conditions or stages being unperceived. Thus
the precious good news as to eternal / [and Age-lasting’ Gk. ‘Aionios’] salvation has been cannot be said
drawn out of these parables, but thrust upon them.
The present parable deals with two classes who receive the
king’s invitation; the former class, who are the first to be invited and who
make light of the matter; the latter, who accept the welcome.
We have seen that the last preceding parable, that of the
wicked husbandmen, was directed
against the leaders of
The reason why the city
also was destroyed was that the populace in general
took sides with their rulers in rejecting the call and in persecuting the
messengers. The number of those who accepted the gospel [of the kingdom] was comparatively so few that they are not here noticed.
Upon
It is to be observed that the picture
as drawn does not take account of the vast majority of the countryside who
could not have been reached by the servants with the invitation to the feast,
and for whom it is not to be supposed there would have been space at the one
feast. The un-evangelized myriads are not here contemplated.
That they miss the feast does not imply that they are treated
like the rejectors and murderers.
When the Lord talked with Nicodemus (John 3) He spoke of the
This same distinction can be seen in
the teaching of the apostles.
John repeats the Lord’s assurances to all men that eternal
life, with freedom from eternal judgment, is guaranteed to every believer (John 3: 35, 36; 5: 24; 10: 27, 29). He also recalls the Lord’s pointed warning that the privilege of enjoying
personal fellowship with Himself depends
upon holiness of walk (John 13:
8). The one is a
general benefit, the other a special privilege.
Paul declares to all men the present justification from all
sins through faith (Acts 13:
38, 39).
But to such as had accepted this message, he
speaks of the [millennial]
Peter is clear that our redemption has been effected by the
blood of Christ (1 Pet. 1: 18, 19). He writes to those who have thus
obtained a precious faith in the righteousness of God (2 Pet. 1:
1). Such have also been called unto God’s eternal glory, which
obviously is a special privilege and far higher than being accounted righteous
before His law (1
Pet. 5: 10). But this
calling and choice of God to share His [coming millennial] glory the justified man must “make sure” by all diligence. As
justified by faith, he is in God’s kingdom in its widest sense, but only by the
“more diligence”
will he gain a rich entrance into the kingdom in its eternal development.
Thus the message of God as proclaimed by
Christ and the apostles contained a general offer to all men of life eternal,
but included a call to special privilege.
We take it that the marriage feast
of the parable belongs to the special
class of benefits, and is another instance of the feature that germinal
sayings by Christ are the basis of apostolic teaching.
That this dual character of the
message has been generally overlooked has impoverished preaching and weakened
its appeal and warning. It has caused serious misapplication and misuse of our Lord’s parables,
with embarrassment to the theologian and perplexity to the general student and
hearer.
It is not until [after] the wedding is filled with guests
that the King enters to see them. This carries on the foreview to the end of
this age, when the marriage of the Lamb shall have come. The King is God the
Father, for He it is Who arranges the feast for His
Son.
As a guest can be cast out of the
feast the scene is not laid in the realm of resurrection glory, for all who
will share in the resurrection, the first, at this time, are to reign with
Christ, and none of these can be cast out of the King’s house and presence (Rev.
20: 4, 6). It would therefore seem that the marriage feast as here pictured is on
earth and the guests are alive when the King comes in.* As before remarked, this is a feature of
all our Lord’s parables. Those who heard the message, both accepters and
rejectors, and had died, will be dealt with appropriately
and on the same principles, but they are not introduced into the parable.
* This and cognate themes I have
discussed in The Revelation of Jesus Christ, 322-324.
Have theologians pondered what is implied
in this statement of God’s Son that His Father will come in to see the guests?
How can it have any sort of fulfilment if the Father is necessarily and
eternally invisible, as theologians commonly affirm? The alternative will be
that this feature of the parable, and the case of the man not suitably attired,
have no meaning.*
* The above theological question is discussed
in the author’s The Epistle to the Hebrews, PP.
30, 33-35, which please see.
Outer Darkness
Few expressions have been treated with
more laxity and liberty than this, though, seeing its solemnity, it should have
received very exact study.
It cannot point to the world of the dead, Hades, for there
Dives and Abraham could see one another.
Nor can a lake burning with fire be a place of darkness, and moreover that most dreadful of all regions is visible to
the eye, for its torment is “in the presence of” [under the eye of, emopion]
holy angels and the Lamb (Rev. 14:
10; 19: 20; 20: 10).
With its too common inexactness the A.V.
gives simply “outer darkness,” ignoring the two definite articles of the Greek. The R.V. gives “the outer darkness.” English does not readily allow “the darkness
the outer” of the
original language, which is a pity, because the repetition of the article
throws emphasis upon the second noun: it is not just any darkness but darkness outside some region of light.
Only our Lord used the term; and only Matthew records it (Matt. 8:
12; 22: 13; 25: 30). Christ repeated the
statement of Matthew 8: 12, as reported by Luke (13: 24-30), when “outer darkness” became simply “without.” This somewhat reduces the severity of
the thought. Nor is the change without significance. The region is simply
outside some other region, contiguous to it.
On each occasion those cast into outer darkness weep and gnash
their teeth. The only other place where this sign of grief and rage is mentioned is Matt. 13: 42, 50, when the angel reapers cast the
wicked into “the furnace of fire.” This is not set by the Lord as at the final judgment,
the great white throne, but at the “consummation of the age,” that is, in connexion with the clearing of the wicked from off this earth when
His millennial kingdom is about to be established. But,
as remarked above, darkness and flaming fire are incompatibles. Such impotent
chagrin and rage can mark both spheres and therefore do not identify them.
Moreover such distress is possible in this life, and does not require death to
induce it: “I am faint and sore bruised: I
have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart ... my groaning is not hid from Thee” (Ps. 38: 8, 9).
A too little considered feature of the three references to “outer
darkness” is that
each pictures a house of feasting. In Matt. 8 and Luke 13 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are represented as reclining
at table and others from all quarters joining them, while the “sons of the
kingdom,” those to
whom the house and its pleasures more naturally belonged, see this feasting but
are driven away from it into outer darkness.
In our present passage it is the
same. The King comes in to see the guests, that is, into the
banqueting hall. It is thence that the man is cast out.
In Matt. 25 the lord of the house has returned thither from his journey, which is to be celebrated as a time of joy, implying a feast; it is to
share this joy of their lord that the faithful servants are welcomed, whereas
the unfaithful man is cast into outer darkness. In the second instance the man is bound hand and foot.
This element of the one picture really gives the clue to the
interpretation, when it is remembered that in the East
such a festivity usually took place at night. Staying in a native quarter in
[* See
also G. H. Lang’s writings.]
It were but an event to be expected that an Oriental despot, of
royal or lesser rank, if offended with one of the slaves, should order that he
be bound and thrown into the garden. There the unfortunate man, with the common
Eastern emotionalism, would bewail the dark and the cold, and the danger from
hungry dogs and jackals, and would gnash his teeth at being deprived of the
pleasures forfeited.
This is the picture; and, whatever may be the reality, it is not the same as the enemies of
the king being slain in public, as in the parable of the pounds (Luke 19:
27), nor as the tares, the very “sons of the Evil One,” being cast into the furnace of fire,
as in Matt. 13.
Such obviously distinct pictures must be viewed as distinct,
and distinct meanings be sought. To blur the picture and confound the lessons
can be only confusing and misleading, as, has commonly been the case in the
treatment of this parable.
In relation to things future and unseen, wisdom would lead
each to say with the village idiot, when asked if he knew anything, “Some things I know, some things I don’t know” - a much wiser state of mind than when a [Bible] preacher speaks dogmatically on such a theme, as if he knows everything.
Of ‘Hades’, the ‘Abyss’, the “
It is outside the kingdom of heaven when pictured as the
temporary festivity at [or before] the return of the lord of the house or as the wedding
feast of the son of the house. It is marked by loss of liberty (bound hand and
foot), by forfeiture of privilege (the “joy of the lord”), by decrease of knowledge (the pound
withdrawn), by deprivation of service and reward (“have thou
authority”). It
will be healthful that these solemn elements weigh upon our minds
and warn and stimulate, though where [when] and how the realities they picture will be experienced may
not be known.
In the interests of sound interpretation as well as of moral
effect, it is vital to recognize that it is not utter strangers to God that are
warned as to this outer darkness. No, it is “sons of the kingdom,” those to whom by calling it naturally
belonged; it is the “friend” who had accepted the invitation and taken
his place; it is the personal slaves of the
house, of the lord of the house, who are bidden to value their rich
privileges lest they lose them and fall under his displeasure. The apostles regularly describe themselves
as slaves.
It was “his own bondservants” to whom the lord of the house entrusted the talents. What relationship this term
indicates is not questioned when it is used of the
shepherd calling “his own” sheep and going before them (John 10: 3, 4). To avoid this meaning in the former
case is to deal deceitfully with Scripture as well as with one’s own soul and
that of the hearer. The blessed Lord who loved and
redeemed them, made it abundantly plain that one of His own servants may render himself obnoxious
to this intensely solemn penalty of being bound and
cast forth from the grand reality of the marriage supper, of the joy of the Lord. Nor is
the spiritual reality at all unknown now. There are [regenerate]
children of God, servants
of Christ, who through misconduct have forfeited the once-enjoyed liberty of
sons, no more share the joy of their lord, and are in distressing darkness of
soul. Experimentally they are outside the
But the very fact that this is possible
to one of “Hs own” itself proves that the penalty cannot be eternal, for all such have eternal life and can never perish. No
one grasping the illustration used would suppose that the unhappy slave would
be left in the garden to starve to death, or that the dark night would last for ever. Day would dawn, his bands would be loosed, life
would be resumed, but he would have missed the joyous festival for ever, for the wedding feast would never be repeated. That is to say, the
special pleasures, honours, splendours which are to
accompany the return of the Lord from heaven and the setting up of His [millennial] kingdom at the consummation of this
age, are to be a reward for fidelity, for righteous and dutiful conduct in His absence, and without this
manner of life they may be forfeited.
Note. The verb used in Matt. 25:
21, 23, eis-erchomai, means either to come into or to go
into. It offers here the picture of the
lord and the servant being in a court or office where the reckoning takes
place, and to the faithful slaves the lord of the mansion says, “Go into the
inner banqueting hall,” where the welcome home festivities will be held. This in sharp contrast to the command that
the unfaithful slave shall be thrust in the opposite
direction, outside the house into the darkness.
THE WEDDING GARMENT
What then is this indispensable garment? The answer is to be found
by inquiring, for what is it indispensable? The answer is, for sharing a
wedding feast. The common interpretation
is that the garment points to that righteousness of God which
is imputed by grace to the believer in Christ, by virtue of which he stands
acquitted before the bar of God. But this at once, and wholly without warrant, changes the
Lord’s picture, and instead of a King, a royal palace, and a wedding feast it
substitutes a Judge and a criminal court of law. It is as if one looking at
Now if we look at the passage in the
Old Testament (Isa. 61: 10) where righteousness is compared to a robe,
we see that the connexion is not that of a criminal being accounted righteous
but that of a bridegroom and bride decking themselves for the wedding, which is
the counterpart of the parable. For here also it is not a question of a person escaping penalty
in a court of law, but of being suitably attired for a wedding.
And if we look on to the passage in the New Testament (Rev.
19: 6-9) which deals with the marriage of the Lamb and the wedding feast to
celebrate it, we find the following exact and full description of the attire of
the Bride for that great day:
Let us rejoice and be
exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto Him: for the
marriage of the Lamb is come,
and His wife hath made herself ready.
And it was given unto her that she should array herself
in fine linen, bright and pure: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the
saints.
It is here made very plain that the robe of the bride is not
the righteousness of God, made available for the guilty by that one act of righteousness which the Son of God rendered on the
cross (Rom. 5: 18); no, it is called specifically “the righteous acts of
the saints.” The word is plural (ta dikaiomata), and its meaning is fixed by its application to the many deeds of judgment
which God will work at the End of this [evil and apostate] age: “Thy righteous acts have been made manifest” (Rev.
15: 4). This practical righteousness, the
habitual doing of righteous deeds, is the fine
linen with which the bride is clothed for her marriage. She has herself woven
the robe.
It is true that no one can so live who has not first had God’s
righteousness reckoned to him judicially; nor can even such a justified person
live righteously save by the power supplied
by God through His Holy Spirit. Therefore it is of
grace through faith and obedience
that the bride can weave her trousseau; but she must do this, or it will not be
granted to her to array herself in the fine linen, for the linen will not be there. All Queen
Esther’s clothes and ornaments were made out of the
king’s treasures, but Esther had to put them on,
or she would not have been fit to be presented to Ahasuerus.
It has been commonly supposed that the guests at the wedding
of the parable were supplied with a suitable garment out of the monarch’s
store, such, we are told, being the general custom. But
even if this be taken for granted, the fact is not altered that each guest had himself to put on his white robe. This does not correspond to the imputed
righteousness that justifies [by
faith]. The sinner does
not reckon this to himself; it is God
that reckons it to the sinner’s account.
Moreover, once that righteousness
has been imputed, and the judicial standing of the sinner rectified, this reckoning
is irreversible in law, nor can the justified be later
ejected from that status. From that hour it becomes possible that the [regenerate] believer shall walk in practical
righteousness, doing by the [power
of the Holy] Spirit only right acts.* Upon this habitual walk will depend his enjoyment of the
privileges now open to him in Christ by faith.
And if he does not thus array himself he may be
denied that share in the wedding feast to which he has been called in
Christ. This is common experience now. The disobedient believer ceases, while
disobedient, to enjoy those firstfruits of the great harvest day
which the [Holy] Spirit
imparts to the sanctified. If this “earnest” be forfeited how shall the [promised millennial] inheritance be gained?
[* Acts 5:
32.
See also ‘The Personal Indwelling of the Holy Spirit’
and ‘The Rights of the Holy Spirit in the House of God’.]
Obviously the principle here involved must
apply to guests at least as much as to the bride. Thus
the lesson of this parable is not how guilty sinners may escape eternal
damnation, but how invited guests may gain or forfeit the kingdom of heaven
viewed as a feast at the opening of the Millennial era. It
illuminates and enforces our Lord’s early instruction to His disciples
concerning breaking or keeping even the least of God’s commandments, and so
teaching others; instruction emphasized by His explicit assurance “For I say unto you,” - [‘disciples’ (verse 1)] -
“that except your
righteousness shall exceed that of
the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of the heavens”
(Matt. 5:
19, 20).
Convicted but resolute the Lord’s adversaries resort to deceit
and sophistry, but are exposed and baffled.
The war of words ends and Jesus holds the field: “no one was
able to answer Him a word, neither durst any man
from that day ask Him any more questions.” After most
devastating denunciations of the hypocrites who had resisted the truth, and
heartfelt lamentation over their now doomed city, the Lord of the temple
abandoned it to them and to destruction, never more to enter it until He shall
return in heavenly glory and be welcomed where He was rejected.
* *
*
10
THE
BRIDE OF CHRIST
By ARLEN L. CHITWOOD
Parables
comprise one truth placed alongside of a previous truth to help explain the
previous truth. This is the thought
derived from the meaning of the word itself.
Our English word “parable” is a transliterated form of the compound Greek
word parabole, which means “to
cast alongside [para means ‘alongside,’ and bole means ‘to cast’].”
Thus, a parable is simply one truth placed alongside of an existing truth to
provide further light on the existing truth. In this respect, the parable of the
Householder and His servant was placed alongside the previous mentioned
statement concerning a house being broken up at the time of the Lord’s return
in order to provide further information concerning the matter. In turn, the parable of the ten virgins was
placed alongside of a previously explained truth to provide even further
information. That is, the parable of the
ten virgins was given to provide additional information which would help to
further explain the parable of the Householder and His servant, along with the
thought of a house being broken up. And
the same can be said for the relationship existing between the parable of the
talents and that which precedes this parable.
With
these things in mind, along with the thought of ten servants and ten pounds, we
can move back into the Old Testament and view a corresponding type after a
somewhat similar fashion. In Gen. 24: 1ff the
story is given concerning Abraham sending His eldest servant into
The
Lord’s servants, during the time of His absence, are to function in complete
dependence upon the power and work of the Holy Spirit. The Lord’s goods are
seen in possession of His servants in the parable of the talents and the
parable of the pounds, and these same goods are seen in possession of the Holy
Spirit in the antitype of Gen. 24: 10, 36, 53. These
goods are to be used by the Lord’s servants under the perfect leadership of the
Holy Spirit. This truth can be seen by comparing the parable of the ten virgins
with the parable of the talents. The faithful, productive
servants in the parable of the talents are synonymous with the five wise
virgins possessing the extra supply of Oil in the parable of the ten virgins.
That is to say, Faithful, productive servants are those wise servants filled with the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to
govern and control their affairs. Or, to state the matter after
another fashion, Faithfulness in allowing the Holy Spirit to manifest Himself
in His fulness in one’s life will, through a use of the Lord’s goods, result in
productivity, fruitbearing.
Another
thing which can be seen through viewing the parables in the Olivet Discourse
within their correct framework and comparing things taught in these parables
with things taught in Genesis, chapter twenty-four is the correct Scriptural view
concerning the resurrection and rapture of Christians at the conclusion of the
present dispensation. Some Christians take the section preceding the parable of
the Householder and His servant as referring to the pre-tribulation rapture and the ‘first resurrection’ (See Luke
21: 34-36; Rev. 3: 10; Rev. 20: 5, 6). Christians appearing before the Lord in judgment [before and] following the
rapture.
The
type in Genesis, chapter twenty-four shows
Rebekah alone covered herself with a veil when Isaac approached. She clothed herself,
anticipating meeting the bridegroom, undoubtedly pointing in the antitype to
the wedding garment.
The
wedding garment is comprised of “the righteous acts of the saints” (Rev. 19: 8, ASV) - [their] works
emanating out of faithfulness to one’s calling, producing an increase through
the use of the talents or pounds - and this is the garment with which Christians
must clothe themselves when they arrive in the Bridegroom’s presence, else they
will appear naked (cf. Matt. 22: 11-14; Rev. 3: 17, 18).
The
Master’s servants have been called, and His goods have been committed to their
trust. All of the Master’s servants participate in this calling, and all will one day be called forth to render an
account. In that coming day there will be both faithful and unfaithful servants
who will be shown to have been either profitable or profitless servants.
In Genesis,
chapter twenty-four, the mission of Abraham’s servant was to obtain a bride for Isaac. The servant
had in his possession all of his master’s goods, which belonged to Isaac; and
these goods were carried into
Abraham’s
servant, once in
In
the antitype, the Holy Spirit is in the world today to obtain a bride for
Christ. He has in His possession all the Father’s goods, which belong to the
Son; and these goods have been brought into the world with a view to obtaining
a bride for the Son, who remains with the Father throughout the time of the
search.
The
Holy Spirit, as He indwells those comprising the “one new man” in Christ, makes known the Purpose for His presence in the world
today; and once this purpose begins to be realized - once Christians become
aware of the true nature of the Holy Spirit’s present mind and begin to
manifest an interest in that which is uppermost in the mind of the Father -
they find themselves, as Rebekah, coming into possession of choice treasures
from the things which belong to the Son. And in line with the type, even other
family members, other Christians, come into possession of “precious things” from the Son’s storehouse of treasures.
The
distribution of the Master’s goods among His servants during the present dispensation
must be in accord with 1
Cor. 2: 9, 10: “But it is written, Eye hath
not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
But God hath revealed them to us by his Spirit: for the Spirit
searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” God has made know through His
Word, the things which He has prepared “for them that love him.”
And the indwelling Holy Spirit takes this Word, searching “all things, yea, the deep things of God,” and reveals these things to [obedient (Acts 5: 32)]
Christians.
In
the type there was a distribution of the son’s goods to both Rebekah and other
family members, but this was not an equal distribution. The prospective bride received the largest and best portion.
In
both the parable of the talents and the parable of the pounds there was a
distribution among all servants, but in the parable of the talents some
servants received more than other servants. In keeping with the type and the
central issue surrounding the Holy Spirit’s mission in the world today, it
would have to be recognized that the unequal distribution of the Lord’s goods
among Christians occurs on the basis of a Christian’s interest in and adherence
to that which Scripture reveals as the
very purpose for the present dispensation.
God
has set aside two days, two thousand years, to
call out the rulers
who are to reign as co-heirs with His Son during the coming age. These co-heirs will constitute
the bride of Christ, who will reign
as consort queen, seated on the
throne with Him. And the Holy Spirit
is in the world today procuring the bride. It is those Christians who manifest an interest in and respond to the
Holy Spirit’s call as He searches for the bride who find themselves in the
position of Rebekah in Gen. 24: 53.
These are the ones who come into possession of “jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and
raiment.” Other Christians, though
they are in possession of what is called “precious things,” find
themselves in an entirely different
category in relation to things reserved peculiarly for the bride.
An
interesting thought drawn from Gen. 24: 53 concerns
the type goods, from those belonging to Isaac, which the servant gave to Rebekah.
He delivered into her hands “jewels
of silver, and
jewels of gold, and raiment.”
The
“jewels of silver, and jewels of gold,” which would constitute a portion of the Lord’s
goods used in trading and trafficking in the antitype, are ultimately seen in a
similar sense (pointing to a past usage) issues surrounding the judgment seat
of Christ. Those Christians using the “jewels of silver, and jewels of gold”
to bring forth an increase during the present time will see their works
described after the same fashion, as “gold, silver, precious stones,”
at the judgment seat. However, those Christians failing in this respect will have nothing to show works described after
an entirely different fashion, as
“wood, hay, stubble” (1 Cor. 3: 12-15).
Then
the “raiment” would undoubtedly point to the wedding
garment for the prospective
bride was present, and she was to array herself in a
proper fashion before meeting Isaac (Gen.
24: 65). The same is true in the antitype. The wedding
garment is made up of “righteous acts” (Rev. 19: 8), and Christians have been granted the privilege
of clothing themselves through the proper use of the Lord’s goods in their
possession.
CONCLUDING
REMARKS
The
Lord’s command concerning the manner of living in which those of His house are
to be engaged during the time of His absence is clear. The Lord has delivered all His goods into the hands of all His servants and has left them with the
command, “Occupy till I come.”
Each
servant is to be busily engaged, on his Lord’s behalf, with the portion of the
Lord’s goods delivered to him
personally. He is not
to be engaged in another’s affairs, nor are others to be engaged in his
affairs. He is responsible to the Lord alone to exercise faithfulness within the scope of his calling; and he will one day answer to the Lord alone, at the
time of His return, for faithfulness or unfaithfulness in carrying out delegated responsibility within the house.
The
nature of rewards for faithfulness is clearly
revealed to be that of occupying one of the numerous
proffered positions as co-heir with Christ seated with Him on the throne, during the coming age (Matt. 24: 4-25: 21, 23;
Luke 19: 17,
19). And the nature
of chastisement for unfaithfulness is
clearly revealed to be not only that of
being rejected for one of the numerous
proffered positions with Christ but that of punishment as well (Matt. 24: 48-51; 25: 26-30; Luke 19: 22-26).
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