If everyone could turn to Matthew 6, I am going to read just a short passage from this chapter beginning in verse 5. It says in Matthew 6:5-13:
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
I will stop reading there.
God’s people, the true believers, have learned from the Bible that May 21 in 2011 will be the time of the rapture and that will be followed by five months of torment on earth for all those who are unsaved and left in the world. Then on October 21st in 2011 will be the end of the world. The world, the universe, and all of the unsaved will be utterly destroyed on that day by a fervent heat, by fire. God will just consume this whole creation in a moment.
He can do this, just like He spoke and it came into being. It did not take Him very much effort to create the world and universe, and it will not take Him much effort—He will not break a sweat—when He speaks to destroy it, because God is all-powerful. Of course, He has said that He was going to do it. He has even gone into detail in describing this in 2 Peter 3. And we know that when God tells us something in the Bible, it is going to happen.
Now, we have known about the timing of Christ’s return, the gathering of His elect, the end of the world, for a little while now, and we have been sharing it with people. It is very interesting how there are different reactions to this information. You have some people, and they are mostly those who have no relationship (or hardly any) to the church. They receive the information and they are curious about it.
We know that God is saving a great multitude out there in the world. He is drawing them. Many will continue to listen to His Word, the Gospel, as it goes out and gives this kind of information, just like the Ninevites. They were not the people of God when Jonah came to them. They were a foreign nation; they were not of Israel.
But God sent Jonah and based on that short, little statement, “Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overturned,” based on that, God blessed His Word and multiplied it within that city so that a great many sat in sackcloth and ashes and repented, truly and in a real way, because Jesus confirms this, “They repented at the preaching of Jonah and they will rise in the judgment.”
So they were born again and God saved them on the least information possible. They did not have the luxury that we have of the whole Bible and studies like “We Are Almost There!” that go in-depth into the Scriptures. We can check it all out to see if it is so, like the Bereans. They only had a statement from a prophet who came from a foreign nation. How could they believe him?
Well, they believed him because God is in complete control of who hears and who does not. His sheep hear His voice. His people respond to His voice. “You do not believe,” Jesus tells the Jews, “because you are not of My people.” “You are not Mine elect,” is what He is saying, “and that is why you do not believe.” When it comes down to it, that is the reason.
So there are those people who hear this information and who respond in a positive way, in the way in which God would have them respond, because God is working it within them to respond in that way.
But then there are other people, a great many people, most of whom—not all of them; of course, we have not seen the reaction of everybody in the church—but they are in the churches and congregations or they are associated with it or maybe they are just familiar with the Bible itself and some of the statements of the Bible. You come to them and you say, “May 21, 2011 is the return of Christ.” You share with them all of the additional information that we have, and you are not saying, “Well, I had a dream; I had a vision; I received a tongue that gave me this information.” No, you are not saying that. You are saying that this comes right out of the Bible, “All of this comes right out of the Bible; let me tell you more about it.” And their response is, “Do not go any further. I do not want to hear it. No man knows the day or hour.”
Isn’t that what so many people say? It makes you wonder. They are so quick, so sharp, and so conclusive. They cut it off right there, “Do not go any further with me,” and they superficially throw a verse out like Matthew 24:36,
But of that day and hour knoweth no man…
Then you try to say, “Yes, but let us look at that verse. I am not hiding from that verse. Let us take a look. Remember there, it says that the Son of Man will come in a similar way to the days of Noah.” Then you go back into the Old Testament into the book of Genesis and you have that thought in mind, “Okay, Christ likens His coming, right after He said that no one knows the day or hour, to the time before the flood in the days of Noah.”
So let us take that question. Did anyone in the world of Noah’s day know the timing of the flood? Did anyone know the day that God would destroy the world? Yes. Eight people. Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives all knew ahead of time precisely the year, the month, and the day: the seventeenth day of the second month in Noah’s 600th year. And there are many verses that answer the question of how we can know that believers, God’s elect, will know the time.
So are you really being honest, are you really being faithful, are you really being true to the Bible when you say, “I do not want to hear any of this information from Genesis; I do not want to hear that 1 Thessalonians 5 says, ‘The Lord so cometh as a thief in the night’ and ‘But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief’? I do not want to hear that. I dismiss that.”
But, you see, when we read the Bible, we are reading it superficially, casually, on the surface, if we just take a verse and we jump to a conclusion and we use that as a basis, like a shield. “Alright, I have the Bible. I am standing on the Word of God.”
No, you are not standing on the Word of God. You are standing on your own understanding, a private interpretation of what you have concluded based on a couple of verses, without comparing spiritual with spiritual and making sure that your conclusions harmonize and fit together like the pieces of a puzzle.
Even Satan himself quotes the Bible. He quoted it to Jesus in the wilderness, but he was quoting it and referring to it in a very wrong way, misapplying it. When he would quote a verse, Jesus would quote a verse back to him and say, “It also says…you see, if you just take that verse on the surface, Satan, you can come up with that kind of a meaning. But we have to compare it with other Scripture, and this Scripture contradicts the verse that you came up with,” showing us that it must harmonize.
So when we are talking to people, we are talking to Christians, professing Christians for the most part, who have said, they have professed, they have said this, that this is their desire. Have you ever talked to someone who said, “I cannot wait for Christ to come; I really cannot wait; I am so desirous for Jesus to come”?
Are you? Are you really? Is this the desire of your heart, that you want Christ to come?
We read Matthew 6, the Lord’s Prayer. How many people have said the Lord’s Prayer in their life? I said it when I was not even a Christian. I said it before I ever knew the truth. Many, many people in the world say this prayer. Did you ever take note of this verse in Matthew 6, verse 10? Let me read verse 9 into verse 10, Matthew 6:9:
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Your Holy Name. Your Name is Holy. May it be good and holy and honored. Verse 10, Matthew 6:10:
Thy kingdom come…
What is that saying? It is expressing a desire, is it not? It is a prayer to God, “Bring Your Kingdom. Bring it. Come Lord Jesus. Come quickly,” which is another prayer in the book of Revelation. Remember that? In Revelation 22, the last book of the Bible, in the last chapter of that book, it is the final cry, in a sense, to God, to Christ, “Come.” But not only come, “Come quickly; come fast.”
The true child of God can get along in the world. We are not to be pitied. No, it is others who are to be pitied. We have the God of all grace and comfort and mercy and help to aid us day-by-day. We do not pity ourselves; we do not feel sorry for ourselves. Yes, we are afflicted, but we also have great joy. We have God Himself to help us. It is not that we just cannot stand it here, even though it can get pretty rough at times. But it is our desire that Christ fulfill His Word and all of the promises of the Bible, all the promises of God within His Word, and that He come, that He come for the consummation of the marriage between the bride and the bridegroom and the consummation of the kingdom of God.
Christ is not coming to establish a kingdom on earth. There will not be a thousand-year earthly reign of Christ in any way. It is a prayer for Christ to come to end this world. So you are praying, “Thy kingdom come. Destroy the world, O Lord. I do feel sorry for those within it who are not saved; however, this must be done. This world is not going to continue forever. There is an end, and so may Your kingdom come.”
Now, we have to understand a little bit about the kingdom, because there is a little language that God uses in the Bible that shows that there are some different aspects to the kingdom of God. For instance, in Matthew 6:33:
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness…
And that is for every one of us. We are to seek the kingdom of God, which is that we are to implore God, to beseech God for mercy, that He might save us.
The kingdom comes universal at the end, but it also comes individually for each individual person. When you become saved or I become saved, at the point of salvation, the kingdom has come.
This is where some people get confused because they have misunderstood some of what Christ was saying about the kingdom when He was speaking on an individual level to people, like when He said in Luke 17:20-21, where Jesus is discussing these things with the Pharisees:
And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come…
Now, they are thinking of that earthly kingdom, along the lines of the Son of David who would deliver them from their earthly troubles and establish a glorious earthly kingdom, just like many theologians and churches mistakenly believe today. They believe that it is all about this world, but it is not.
So they are demanding of Jesus when the kingdom of God should come:
…he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
Some people tried to apply this to other Scriptures that talk about the kingdom at the end of time when God’s kingdom will be in full bloom, we could say, and they got it wrong. You see, Jesus is saying that it comes not with observation, like in John 3 with the wind—no man knows where it blows or it listeth—because it is the Spirit of God that enters into a person and you cannot see God’s Spirit.
When we read the Bible, we cannot see the power of God’s Word. We do not see anything with our eyes, but the Bible tells us that the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than a two-edged sword. It has that power to enter into the hearts of man and to bring salvation.
So here, Jesus is making a statement about the personal nature of the kingdom of God with each individual. It is within you. Now, it is not within every person because most people are unsaved. But when God saves a person, then in their soul, the kingdom of God has come to them.
Go over to Luke 18 in the next chapter. It says in verse 24, in the middle part of the verse, Luke 18:24-27:
…How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved? And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.
You can see the connection. To experience salvation means that you enter into the kingdom. We become a citizen of God’s kingdom.
Look at Colossians 1:13, which says:
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
Now, when does that take place? When are we translated into the kingdom?
At the moment of salvation, we are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We are not only in the kingdom, but we are in Christ who is seated at the right hand of the Father ruling and reigning over the whole kingdom of God. God speaks of His people as having crowns and reigning and so forth. Of course, this is all under the authority of Christ and God and we know that He is King of kings and Lord of lords.
But at the moment of salvation, we enter the kingdom of God, even though we are still here on earth and this is Satan’s domain. In the world, he is the prince of the power of the air. He is the one who is ruling over the unsaved in the kingdom of darkness that is on this earth.
Also, go to John 3:3-5. It says there:
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
So that is one aspect of the kingdom of God. When we become saved, we enter in right then at the moment of salvation.
Another aspect is if we were to die a believer. A child of God who dies, our body goes to the ground but our spirit goes to be with the Lord, as Jesus said to the thief on the cross, “Today, thou shalt be with Me in paradise,” and paradise is just a synonym for the kingdom of God; it is another way of saying it.
So that is a second way. A third aspect of the kingdom of God is found in Matthew 25:34:
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
This is the final separation of the sheep and the goats, which will be on May 21 in 2011, and now the kingdom which has been prepared from eternity past, from the foundation of the world, is all ready for all the saints of God, all the people of God, to enter in and it is a glorious kingdom. It is a new heaven and a new earth. Within that kingdom, the wonderful glories that are there, we read about in the Bible a little bit, and we can only get a glimpse of them. We get a little touch of things that are to come concerning the greatness and the beauty and the glory and the honor, as it says in the Lord’s Prayer, of the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God.
We also find over in Luke 13 a very descriptive passage relating to the day when the door is shut. The door is Christ, so this is describing the time when salvation will be no longer. In this world, the day of salvation will have come to its end. It is over and done with.
What day is that? When is the door shut? No, it is not in October. May 21 in 2011 is the seventeenth day of the second month of the Biblical calendar, and that happens to be the day in the book of Genesis when God shut Noah and his family and all the animals securely into the ark so that they were guaranteed safety, but it also guaranteed that everyone outside would be destroyed. That is what this passage in Luke 13:24 is describing:
Strive to enter in at the strait gate…
This is like that eye of the needle. Nobody can make it through the eye of a needle. That is why it is impossible with man but possible with God. However, even though it is impossible, God tells us to strive, to put forth effort, to labor to enter into the kingdom of God.
We do this when we read the Bible and we pray to God, “O Lord, have mercy on me. Save me. Translate me out of this awful kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of your dear Son. Give me a new heart.” All of this language is approaching to God and hopefully it matches what is going on in our inner being and that our desire is sincere. We are going to Him and we are crying out to Him that He would save us.
So we are striving to enter in at the strait gate, which is an impossible gate for us to get into. But if it is God’s good pleasure, if we are one of His people, He will work it out and we will find entrance through the Lord Jesus Christ who is the door into that glorious kingdom of God.
So it says to strive:
…for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
Well, no one is able, and that is the problem. But many think that they have found the solution. Many think that they know the way, that they know how to get into the kingdom of God, “Here is what you have to do.”
As soon as you hear that, as soon as somebody tries to tell you how to do it, you know right there, “Hold it! Hold it! That is works; that is works. If I accept Christ or if I am baptized or if I partake of the Lord’s table, no matter if I keep the commandments of the Bible or if I think I can keep the law, if I obey the doctrines and teachings of the church, all of this is works and I will never get in.” And we really should get away from anyone who is trying to tell us how to get in.
Luke 13:25-28:
When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door…
And that is God Himself closing the door on that date of May 21.
…and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.
So this is describing the very vivid truth that will take place on that day of God’s people being lifted up in the sight of their enemies, all those who are left behind on the earth, all of the unsaved, and they are going to see that the kingdom has come. The kingdom has come: that is what is going on. They are seeing this one here and that one over there who they could identify as being associated with the Bible or the Gospel, maybe someone in their family or someone down the block whom they knew, and they are seeing them go up. They are seeing the believers in heaven, “Of course, that is the kingdom of God and I, myself, am thrust out,” as Jesus is saying, “You, yourself.” This is how I am going to view it if I am left behind. I see everybody go up, so there is weeping and gnashing of teeth because I realize that the kingdom of Christ that the Bible has plainly stated would come has come.
There had to be a time. There had to be an end-time generation. Right? If we believe the Bible, that is what the Bible says. The world would not go on indefinitely. The world must end, according to the Bible.
Well, if the Bible says that there will be an end and if the Bible tells some of the things to look forward to or that will be an indicator of this end, for instance in Matthew 24:3, where we read:
And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
The coming of Christ, what will be the sign? Well, iniquity will abound. There will be the abomination of desolation in the holy place. False christs and false prophets will arise. He also gives us the sign of the nation of Israel, typified by the fig tree being in leaf.
Check them off. Check them off of your list. The sign of His coming and the end of the world is obvious. What is that saying? It is as plain as the nose on your face. Isn’t it obvious, if you are honest?
If you look at it as the Bible directs us to look, He is coming. And like all prior judgments, He does not come without first revealing that He is coming. He told Noah that He was coming to judge the world. He told Lot that He was coming to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. And we find in Amos, “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets,” and that is just true believers who declare the Word of God.
He is coming! He is returning and did you not want Him to? How many times have you said the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy kingdom come”? You asked for it and He is coming. He is coming. In the fullness of time, according to His timetable and His plan, He is coming.
But, you know what? The similarities with the nation of Israel are very close to the church of our day and the Old Testament people of God. For centuries, if you would ask a Jew, “Do you desire for the Messiah to come? Do you? Do you want the Messiah to come?,” their response would have been, “Oh, it is the longing of my heart. It is my utmost desire.”
Okay, but when the wise men came from the east to Jerusalem and they said, “We have seen His star and we are following Him,” they knew whom it was referring to because Herod asked them and they spoke about Him coming from Bethlehem. They knew that it was the Messiah. But it says that when the wise men came, Herod was troubled, and he should have been because he was a very wicked man. But it also says, “and all Jerusalem with him.” All Jerusalem; the people of God did not rejoice. They did not celebrate the coming of the Messiah finally after 11,000 years of history and after nearly 2,000 years of being identified as the Israel of God. Instead, they were very troubled in their mind and it was uncomfortable.
Now, today, we tell people, “Christ is coming. The Lord has revealed Himself through His Word only and no other way,” and, wow! What trouble is brewing within the churches and the congregations as they are so afraid of this information and this news! They do not want Christ to come. They do not, for whatever reason. They like their life. They like their church system.
Jesus, when He came, He did upset the applecart of the nation of Israel, did He not? They were exposed for what they were doing with the Word of God. Likewise, Christ is exposing the church of our day at the end, that they are not being faithful and that they are under His wrath, and so there is trouble that is stirred up within them and they are very discontent and almost hostile at times, as some people can be, at the information that the Lord Jesus Christ is coming.
What does it say in 1 Thessalonians 4, when we read about Christ coming in the clouds and it describes the rapture and also the resurrection? It says in the last verse of 1 Thessalonians 4, 1 Thessalonians 4:18:
Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
You know, you speak about May 21, 2011 and October 21, 2011 and does it not comfort you? Is it not a blessing to you to hear this?
God understands it differently. He says that this should be a comfort of mind, because whatever you are going through, if you are a true believer, you do not have much longer. You do not have much longer in this world to experience whatever you are going through. Whatever affliction, whatever trial, whatever trouble, how ever people hate you, whatever your situation is in this life in India or Africa or China or America, wherever you are where you are just despised and the lowest of the low because you share the truth of the Bible with people, here is the comfort of God.
Now, if you have disobeyed God and if you have let your heart love this world, well, that is why you are troubled. That is why you are troubled and that is why you cannot receive this information in a good way.
It says in James to be patient unto the coming day of the Lord. Why patient? Well, people are only patient when they want something. “I want something,” like children before Christmas. A month before Christmas, “I cannot wait; I cannot wait for Christmas.”
Okay, dear brethren, dear child of God, be patient. The Lord is coming. Great news. Wonderful news that Christ is coming.
Let us just look at one last passage. 2 Timothy 4:6-8, where we read of the Apostle Paul who is being moved to speak:
For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
Remember that Paul does represent all believers.
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day…
And that is just eternal life, that crown that all believers receive where we reign and become kings, spiritually speaking, in God’s sight.
…and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
Love. These are words of comfort and words of excitement in that it is something that we have to be patient for and love.
Now, we do not love what it brings. We do not love that people in our family, our neighbors or people we know, we know that they are not ready. No, we are sad; there is a burden there.
However, on the other hand, we desire and long for and truly love that Christ is returning to do what He must do. The rebellion within this world cannot continue into eternity. God must wipe it out and then establish true righteousness for eternity future.
There is also a difference I think with some people. They are troubled maybe about their spiritual state. Are they saved? Are they really a child of God? They think about the end, “On one hand, yes, I want Christ to come; but on the other, I am afraid.”
Well, that is understandable. It is understandable to be fearful and to be afraid of this information. But it is a completely different thing to have a mind and a heart set, as so many do, who, yes, they desire Christ’s coming and yet they are completely set against Him and His Word and the information that He is revealing at this time that He is coming.
Remember in the parable of the ten virgins, there was a cry made at midnight, “The bridegroom cometh! Go ye out to meet Him,” but He did not come right then. There was a little space, because the foolish virgins had an opportunity to go and look for oil.
So, again, Christ gives warning ahead of time. There is a cry made, “The bridegroom cometh!” Then a little later in that parable, He did come and the five wise virgins entered in and the door was shut, and the foolish were locked out.
Once again, we know when it is going to happen. If you do not know when, it may be because you desperately do not want it to happen. But your desperation in desiring this will not stop it. It cannot stop it because this is God’s doing.
Okay. We will stop here and let us have a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank You for advanced notice and forewarning, as you gave to Noah. It says that Noah moved with fear. Father, may we move with fear according to how You are dealing and working with each one of us, for the time is at hand. The kingdom of God is at hand, and we do pray that we might be found worthy to enter into the kingdom. No, not based on ourself or on anything that we ever did or are doing or could possibly do, but based on Christ’s work and what He has done. We do pray that through this we can enter into Your kingdom and serve You, as You are King of kings and Lord of lords. Father, we pray that You would be with us today, Your Sabbath Day. Help us to do Your will. We do ask for opportunity to share Your Word with people whom we meet. We pray that You might be with anyone who is traveling far, and we pray these things in Christ’s Name. Amen.
Chris: We have some time. Instead of singing a hymn right now, because we made short changes at the end, if anyone has any questions or comments that you would like to make, you are welcome. You can come up here to the mic. If you are on Paltalk, you can just raise your hand there and we will try to take your question.
1st Question: I was wondering if you could look at Matthew 7:13 and compare it to Matthew 25:34.
Chris: Okay. Matthew 7:13-14:
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
You want to look at Matthew 25:34:
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
1st Question (continued): I am sorry. I take that back. It is Matthew 7:13 compared with Luke 13:24.
Chris: Okay. Yes, it is a similar statement. Luke 13:24 says:
Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
Except in Matthew, we are given a little bit more information about the broad way. So not only is there a very narrow portal into heaven, because it is really impossible for a man to enter into heaven on his own efforts, but on the other hand, to go to destruction, it is so wide open that anybody can do that. Anybody can go down the wrong path that will lead to their ruin.
1st Question (continued): If you go the right way, that means that you will be leading to Christ, right?
Chris: Right, and what is the right way? Listening to the Bible, listening to what the Scripture says, and part of the right way is recognizing, “I cannot do it; I cannot get myself saved; salvation is of the Lord; it is by the faith of Christ, not by my faith.” However, in the meantime while I wait on God to save me, I am not going to wait in the bar, I am not going to wait, you know, filling myself with all the worldly pleasures that I can. God says, “No, strive to enter in.” That is, turn from what sins you can turn from; get away from cigarettes and drugs and alcohol, whatever it is that is in your life. Doing this is not going to save you, but strive and beseech God to grant you His salvation.
2nd Question: Can you repeat the announcement for Cinco de Mayo?
Chris: May 3rd. It is just basically going to be whoever wants to go on May 3rd. We will have the normal morning meetings here. From here, we will probably get a quick lunch, a couple of sandwiches, and then we will drive out with everyone following one another. That is what we have done in the past.
2nd Question (continued): Where are we going?
Chris: Kennett Square area. It is actually near Longwood Gardens, or past it.
Comment: I have made some comment about wanting to get a revised directory but I have been sick for the last couple of weeks. If anybody would have any suggestions or would like to help, they might give me a call at home.
Chris: Okay, thank you.
3rd Question: What does the oil symbolize in Matthew 25?
Chris: In Matthew 25 with the ten virgins, it says in verse 3, Matthew 25:3-4:
They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
Oil represents in the Bible the Holy Spirit. When a prophet would anoint a king to be king, he would anoint him with oil because it was a picture of the Holy Spirit.
What does the lamp normally represent in the Bible? Psalm 119 says, “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet.”
So they both have lamps because they are all Christians. They both have lamps. Everybody has a Bible in the church sitting on their pulpit. They are all there; however, the problem is that the foolish or the unsaved do not have oil in their vessels. They do not have God’s Spirit within them to enlighten the Word of God.
That is fatal when it comes to the information about the time of the end, because the wise will understand but none of, we could say, the foolish will understand, even though they all heard this message, “The bridegroom cometh.” The bridegroom cometh, but because they lacked oil, they did not have the Spirit of God, so they went to them who buy and sell. Remember that God speaks of buying and selling as ministering the Gospel. And the wise told them in verse 9 [note: speaker inadvertently said verse 8], because they desired oil of them and we cannot give salvation to any other individual, Matthew 25:9:
But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
Why did they tell them that? Why did they tell them to go to the church? Because they did not tell them to go to the church. They said, “Go to them, the Triune God. Go to God Himself.” As He says in Isaiah 55, He is that merchantman who typifies the language of merchandise with the Gospel, but He freely gives, and yet they misunderstood. They went to the church for their answers and they ended up being locked out when the door was shut.
4th Question: Can you explain the last day for the believers in May and the last day for the world in October?
Chris: Yes, May 21, 2011, we know because God has confirmed this through His Word, especially as we understand the seven-thousand-year period from Genesis 7. The last day of salvation will be on May 21, 2011 because that is the seventeenth day of the second month of the Biblical calendar, which is the exact day that God shut Noah into the ark.
That door, with the shutting of the door, Jesus said, “I am the door,” so that is the end of salvation. But there is still a Feast, the Feast of Tabernacles, that has to be fulfilled because the other two main Feasts were fulfilled. Passover was fulfilled when Christ was on the cross. Pentecost was fulfilled when the Holy Spirit was poured out. On the day of Pentecost, it was fully come because the Feast was fulfilled in that as the firstfruits would be brought in through the Church Age, salvation would come to all those whom God would save. The third Feast was Tabernacles or Ingathering, and that Feast has not been fulfilled as the other two. That is why we have to go to the end of that Feast, which is October 21.
So we had a problem for awhile until there was a correction made. In understanding the nature of that Feast, there would be an eighth day. We had October 20th, if you remember, for a period of time. When that correction was made, we saw the eighth day, “Oh, the eighth day; the last day of the Feast is October 21,” and then we could see it clearly: May 21 to October 21 is five months or one hundred and fifty-three days. Then we saw verses, also from Genesis 7, like the flood waters prevailing for one hundred and fifty days or five months. And in Revelation 9, we saw the five months of torment. Then everything began to make sense.
So when the Bible says, like in Luke 13, that the door is shut and you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God, and those left behind begin to weep and gnash their teeth, that is how we received correction about hell because when we understood time, then the understanding of judgment followed, because if they are weeping and gnashing their teeth on May 21, that is still on the earth and they still have five months left. Then you think, well, that cannot be eternal damnation in a place called hell, and then all kinds of verses fit that speak of perishing and destruction and ruin, all of those verses.
If anyone on Paltalk has anything else, Lord willing, we will be on Paltalk tonight in the Ebiblefellowship room beginning at 8:30 P.M. ET, but we will stop here.