The Rapture Series
Why Do you Believe? What Do you Believe? How Do You Believe? Who Do You Believe?
“Reason to Believe”
Prepare
(1e)
At some point in the future we shall hear the midnight cry. The shout of the friend of the Bridegroom will be heard. (Mat.25:6) The message will be the same as when John baptized by the Jordan 2,000 years ago. It will be
"REPENT! FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND!"
At that time the virgin company of God will awaken. They will begin to stir. For the wise, for those who have the oil Revival will come. For the others there will be burnout and a Great Falling Away. Even a great Apostasy.
For the wise it will be a time of new stirrings and great wonder. The swaddling coverings of our comfortable churchy bed of ease will fall away. They will no longer matter. They will have become a thing of the past. The saints will be stirring even as a butterfly about to emerge from a cocoon. They will awaken from their dreamy state. There will be forces pressing in on them. There will be a sense of urgency, even a time of travail. That dark night of the soul will have finally come. It will be a time to break away. It will be a time to "Arise and shine!" God will be calling His covenant people. And they will be on to new things.
The path that lies before us is a strait and narrow passage. (Mat.7:14)
It is the highway of holiness. (Isa.35:8)
The passes are fearful places, guarded by dragons of fear. The powers of this world, those in heaven and on earth, will be trying to hold us back.
But for the saints there can be no other pathway. This is the only Way.
Our God will be leading us onward.
The time that Isaiah saw will have finally arrived.
ISAIAH 60
"1 Arise, shine; For your light has come!
And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
2 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
And deep darkness the people;
But the Lord will arise over you,
And His glory will be seen upon you.
3 The Gentiles shall come to your light,
And kings to the brightness of your rising.
4 "Lift up your eyes all around, and see:
They all gather together, they come to you;
Your sons shall come from afar,
And your daughters shall be nursed at your side.
5 Then you shall see and become radiant,
And your heart shall swell with joy;
(Isa.60:1-5)
The One and only pathway into the glory lies out there in our future. It is a strait and narrow way. This will become even clearer when the trumpets sound the alarm. Our Lord Jesus Christ will become our everything. In the Valley of Achor, (Valley of Tribulation), we shall come to know Him not as "Lord" but as "Ishi", as our Beloved. (Hos.2:15-16)
The Bridegroom is returning. Of this we can be sure. He will be calling us even in a time of great future darkness. We shall know the time has come. For we shall hear the midnight cry,
"Behold the bridegroom cometh;
Go ye out to meet Him!" - Mat.25:6
The bridal party stirs and awakens.
And then the moment of awful realization.
And a prayer is heard in the night.
Lord help us! Our lamps are going out!
And then the awful question.
Do we have the oil?
ETERNAL BEINGS. ENTERING THE REALMS OF ETERNITY.
We serve a God who created and formed us in His image. We are spirit beings destined to live forever, .... - somewhere. God has a right to each one of us. We are eternal beings. We were made for fellowship with Him. The lamps of our human spirit were not meant to burn out. They were designed to run on forever, being fueled by the downloaded oil of God's eternal Holy Spirit. That's the way that it is. There is no other Source!
We were made from dust, from the elements of the periodic chemical chart. God breathed His Life into us at the creation. But bones and dust is not the end for those who are the called, the chosen, and the faithful. Other great wonders are still up ahead. The same Breath of God that breathed upon the waters at creation will restore the whole House of Israel. All 12 tribes will be found and restored. They will be brought safely into the glory, along with their companions. All Israel will be revived from death. The prophet Ezekiel saw them rise up from their graves with a rattling sound in the Valley of Dry Bones.
We serve and are ministered to by the God of Life. We were created and designed to run on the oil of His Holy Spirit. He is the One who will lift us up out of this dark enclosure of flesh. He is the One who is drawing us out to the eternal realms to be with Him. The Holy Bible is the Owner's manual for human beings. And our supply of life-giving oil comes by the infilling of God's Holy Spirit. Only He can supply this. Are we interested? And if so, then where is this supply of oil to be found?
THE GETHSEMANE OIL SUPPLY
The five wise virgins found the oil. They purchased it from those who sold it. And where did the oil come from? Here our journey of discovery leads us to a most unlikely place. But it is an important and necessary waypoint on the Kings Highway. The oil is pressed at a place called Gethsemane.
Right across from the eastern gate is the Mount of Olives. This is the grand entrance into the Holy City. It is the entrance Messiah took at His first coming. And so it will be at His second coming when His feet touch the Mount of Olives and the whole mountain cleaves in two. Down near the foot of the mount and right across from the Temple is the Garden of Gethsemane. This is the place. Gethsemane means "oil press". It is right here that the oil is pressed out.
This is an awesome place. It is a place of crushing. It is not a place for the popular crowds This was the place where our Lord Jesus Christ was handed the cup. There He knelt down and prayed, sweating as it were drops of blood. It was here that He endured the agony of surrender to the powers of darkness. In this dark night of the soul, He faced the prospect of the cross and began to experience for the first time that personal agony that comes from being cut off from the Father. But He did this for us, and took upon Himself the sins of the whole world.
The word "Christ" or "Messiah" means "the Anointed One". This was where Christ Jesus showed His true character and true anointing. He gave Himself for others. He took the cup. He received it in total commitment to the Way of the cross. It was there at Gethsemane on the night of His betrayal that Jesus committed Himself to the will of the Father.
His agony of soul is something we need never face. He was cut off from the Father so that we might be saved. He had to do this to take upon Himself the sins of the world. That is what He did for us. It was there, at that place of the oil press where the victory of Christ, our Anointed One, was won. Right there, at Gethsemane, is where it happened. There, at that place of the oil press, Jesus defeated the powers of darkness. And so it should come as no surprise that this is where the oil of anointing for kings and priests, the oil for the lamps, and the oil of gladness can be found.
GETHSEMANE OIL.
AT THE OIL PRESS, THE PLACE OF CRUSHING.
Gethsemane was (and is) an awesome spiritual place. It is the place of 'the oil press" and the place where the oil is found. For our Savior it was the place where He faced the full implications of the cup that was offered before Him. The place is truly forbidding. And yet this is the appointed place for all those who are the burden bearers of God. Gethsemane is a waypoint and an experience in God for all those who truly seek Him and follow Him in the deepest way. It is here that the true servants of God run up against the forces of darkness. The oil of anointing is there. And wonder of wonders, they come into a personal experience in God that they had never thought possible. They discover the truth of what Zerubbabel was told.
Not by might. Nor by strength,
But by my SPIRIT saith the Lord!"
The five wise virgins knew this place. And they did not avoid it. They went there quite deliberately. And that is where they found the oil. They purchased it with the surrender of their own self life to God. They received it out of a realization of their own personal emptiness before Him. And, of course, they were witnesses to the Bridegroom. They belonged to Him. So the oil that He supplied was right there. It was waiting for them. And it was in an overflowing abundant supply!
This is exceedingly important for us to understand.
If we are in Christ then our enemy has been totally and utterly defeated.
He was defeated right there in the Garden of Gethsemane.
The indwelling Christ is at work within us. From glory to glory He is changing us from the inside out. In union with Him we are supplied in His great anointing. His Holy Spirit fills us to overflowing. Jesus/Yeshua is our Messiah, Christ, or "Anointed One". In the Garden and at the cross He took all our burdens. He took all our pain and sorrow. And He was victorious! Now He causes us to rejoice in our sufferings. They will soon be over. And so even in the midst of great darkness He fills us with the oil of gladness.
The Apostle Paul rejoiced in this victory.
He said,
"O grave, where is thy victory?
O death, where is they sting?!" (1Cor.15:55)
THE MIDNIGHT DRAMA.
AND AN EPIC MOMENT IN THE DIVINE ROMANCE.
The virgins get up as they hear the midnight cry. Their lamps are flickering and about to go out. The 5 wise virgins bring out their vessels filled with extra oil. They then proceed to fill their lamps. The Bridegroom is approaching in the night.
Isn't this parable a story of incredible excitement and romance? There are a host of other poetic themes in scripture which overlap this story. Remember the Shulamite's two dreams in the Song of Songs? She too heard a call to open the door to her beloved? In one of her disturbing dreams she is comfortable in her own bed of ease. She is too comfortable, in fact, to bother getting up to answer when the knock comes. Her Betrothed is knocking at the door. Finally she goes to open the door to Him but He is gone. She goes out into the streets desperately looking for him. (Song of Songs 5:2-8)
In the letter to the angel of the Church at Laodicea in Rev. 3 we see the Laodicean church pictured in a similar way. Again the poetic imagery reveals to us 'the Beloved outside the door'. This time too the Beloved is knocking. Is God knocking at the door of our hearts?
The ten virgins, even the five wise virgins, all slumbered. Why? We see many instances of slumbering in scripture. Remember the disciples asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of Jesus' betrayal?
THE MIDNIGHT DRAMA UNFOLDS AS MANY OTHERS HAVE DONE BEFORE.
AND THE WISE GO FORTH INTO THE NIGHT WITH THEIR LAMPS BURNING BRIGHTLY.
Like the disciples, all the bridesmaids are dozing as their lamps burn low. It had been a night of romance and expectancy. But even the 5 wise virgins are slumbering as the night wears on. For some, the coming crisis will lead on to a pathway of glory. For others it will be an awful moment of discovery and loss. Pray God that never happens to anyone reading these words.
The wise will enter into the divine romance. The virgins with the new oil in their lamps will be off on a grand adventure. It will be a night passage into a realm of glory they have never experienced before. For the wise who had prepared themselves they are at the threshold of a dream. This romance has superseded all other romances. At midnight the virgins awaken. They have heard the shout of the friend of the Bridegroom. They fill their failing lamps and their lamps light the way before them as they head out into the darkness. The hour has come!
The midnight hour is both an agonizing and an ecstatic threshold in time. Its pure drama is seen repeatedly throughout scripture and even spills over into profane literature. Here are just a few of these moments as we se them in scripture. At midnight the death angel passes over Egypt. It brings death upon the firstborn of Egypt and the covering blood on the doorposts brings deliverance to God's people. The family of Israel eats the bitter herbs and the unleavened bread of haste. They are girded and they eat the unleavened bread of haste standing up. They ready themselves to leave on an epic journey. This will come to be known as 'the Exodus'.
It is at midnight that Samson awakens from his slumbers. He find himself in Delilah's bonds of seduction and betrayal. He shakes himself and calls on the anointing of God. Then in a mighty pull he wrenches the Philistine gates of Gaza from their supports and proceeds to lug them up the hill towards Hebron. - Judges 16:3
In a romantic redemptive picture we see Boaz, a type of our Kinsman Redeemer. It is at midnight that He discovers the maiden Ruth lying at his feet. It is the time of harvest. As He slept on the threshing floor she had nestled herself there. She is seeking his covering. And she is appealing to the covenant of Israel for redemption. -Ruth 3:8
In the midnight hours Jesus is betrayed and sent up before Caiaphas. Here in the night watches He faces His awful night of trials.
It is at midnight that Paul and Silas are praising God in prison. No low oil situation here. Deliverance comes as an earthquake breaks open the prison doors. The shackles of the prisoners fall off. The jailer, now under a death sentence comes to Paul and Silas asking, "What must I do to be saved?". -Acts 16:25&26
Are these midnight dramas also in the same pattern as another great midpoint spiritual drama? In the middle of the 70th week the Antichrist is possessed and arises as the Beast. He is no more Mr. Nice guy. He stops the temple sacrifices, (which by this time will have resumed). The Antichrist then sets up the abomination of desolation. The cry of alarm goes up at that time and the saints in Jerusalem flee from the city. This is the crisis of history and it involves all of the covenant people of God. They signed on with this false messiah. And now, not surprisingly, they have been betrayed!
The Church and Israel are both in extreme peril. And yet God is still at work in redemption and deliverance. The end time drama will be a time of deep darkness for mankind. What is going to happen?
It seems that some lamps will burn low and go out. This world will be plunged into thick darkness. But is that all there is to the story? Will the saints arise and shine?
Apparently so.
The prophet Isaiah saw the lights shining brightly. (Isa. 60)
All these wonders are yet to be revealed,
At the midnight hour.
As we return to our story we see that the ten virgins are stirring from their slumbers. The midnight drama is beginning to unfold. The shout of the bridegroom's friend has been heard off in the distance. The bridegroom is coming! The ten virgins are up. Their lamps are burning low and about to go out. But the wise virgins are prepared for this. Excitedly they pour oil from their vessels to fill their lamps. Their lamps are shining brightly as they open the door and step out into the night.
But for the five foolish virgins the story is different. In the light of their dim and flaring lamps the awful realization comes to them. They have no oil to refill their failing lamps. They must remain behind to find the oil. But the hour is late; too late in fact. This is an awful situation. They have heard the midnight cry. They know that He is near. Yet they are unable to go out to meet Him.
This haunting parable of the ten virgins is packed with a very powerful message. It carries a profound and unforgettable warning for us all. Even today the oil of the Holy Spirit is available. The time for the procuring of oil is now.
Let us draw near to our God in devotion to Him.
Let us trim our lamps for the coming night.
And let us seek the oil,
and the fullness of His Holy Spirit now.
Grace and shalom to all who love His appearing.
(blogger)
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