In Such An Hour As Ye Think Not The Son Of Man Cometh
By W. C. Moore
"In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed" (1 Corinthians 15:52).
A man was addicted to drinking wine, and getting drunk. He was asked, "Do you have the victory?" He replied, "No, but be patient with me."
The answer was made: "If the Lord came, and found you in that drunken condition, would He be patient?"
What a sobering thought! Now, today, is our day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:1-2; Hebrews 3:7-15). We dare not trifle with the Word of God.
The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, has said: "The one shall be taken, and the other left" (Matthew 24:40-41). The Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church and the Church is subject unto Christ (Ephesians 5:23-24). He told His disciples to go and teach all nation "to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20).
Friends, we must have the oil of the Spirit of God if we are going to be ready when the Lord comes. In Matthew, the 25th chapter, we are told of ten virgins, and all went forth to meet the Bridegroom. Five were wise, and five were foolish, the difference being, as stated, that the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps, while the foolish "took no oil with them."
The Lord is coming! The midnight cry is sounding! "At midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him" (Matthew 25:6). All those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps, but the foolish found out that their lamps were gone out or as the marginal reading has it, "were going out."
And while they went to buy oil, "The Bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with Him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But He answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh" (Matthew 25:10-13).
Again the Lord said, "Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
"Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man" (Luke 21:34-36).
We can get drunk on other things besides wine and strong drink. We can get intoxicated by listening too much to the radio, not to mention the great danger of letting television scenes surfeit us. There is such a thing as getting drunk on newspaper reading.
Many things can take a place in our thoughts and desires that God and His glorious service should have, and thus unfit us to be ready when the Lord comes for His own, for those who are "looking for" His appearing, those who are making themselves ready, those who are purifying themselves, even as He is pure! (Hebrews 9:28; Revelation 19:7; 1 John 3:2-3).
"Exhort one another daily, while it is called today" (Hebrews 3:13). Put not off this essential matter of being filled with the Spirit and being ready for the coming of the Lord! (Ephesians 5:18; Matthew 24:44). "For the coming of the Lord draweth nigh" (James 5:7-8).
"Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:1-2).
"Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh" (Matthew 24:44).