The Christian Life, the Church Life, the Consummation of the Age, and the Coming of the Lord
Message Two
Watching and Being Ready in Order to Be Prepared by the Lord for His Second and Imminent Coming
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Matt. 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole inhabited earth for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
Matt. 25:1 lAt that time the kingdom of the heavens will be ikened to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
Word of Appetizer
What are the signs of the Lord’s second and imminent coming?
The greatest sign of the end of this age (when the last three and a half years of the great tribulation are about to begin) is the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom to the whole inhabited earth.
Another great sign of the Lord’s coming is when Israel, represented by the fig tree, was miraculously restored as a nation; to the believers this fig tree is a sign of the end of this age.
Before the day of the Lord’s second coming, the apostasy will come, and the man of lawlessness, Antichrist, will be revealed.
Spiritual Burden
To be taken by the Lord, we need to be those who are watchful for His imminent coming and prepared and ready to be His bride so that we may be raptured before the great tribulation;the meaning of rapture is to be taken into the Lord’s presence; if we would be taken into the Lord’s presence, we must be in His presence today.
Every day we need to be watchful by paying the price to buy the Spirit as the golden oil so that we may supply the churches with the Spirit for the testimony of Jesus and be rewarded by the Lord to participate in the marriage dinner of the Lamb.
CONCLUDING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
The Revelation of the Truth
The Greek word for coming (parousia) means “presence”; Christ’s coming will be His presence with His people; His parousia will begin with the rapture of the man-child (Rev. 12:5) and of the firstfruits (14:1-4) before the great tribulation and will end with His appearing on the earth with the saints at the end of the great tribulation.
We need to see the signs of the Lord’s second and imminent coming.
To be taken by the Lord, we need to be those who are watchful for His imminent coming and prepared and ready to be His bride so that we may be raptured before the great tribulation.
The Lord’s word in Matthew 25:1-13 is a parable for watchfulness.
The Experience of Life
We have the Spirit in our regenerated spirit;having oil in our lamp is to have the Spirit of God dwelling in our spirit; taking oil in our vessel is to have the Spirit of God filling and saturating our soul that we may be enabled to live the virgin life for the Lord’s testimony.
To be watchful is to be filled with the Spirit all day long; if we allow the Spirit to saturate our entire being, we are watchful persons, making ourselves ready and being prepared by the Lord for His second coming.
Practice and Application
In the few remaining days that we have, let us be those who love and serve the Lord, who are revived and overcoming every day, and who let the world go in order to be ready and waiting with all our heart for the Lord’s second coming.
Every day we need to be watchful by paying the price to buy the Spirit as the golden oil so that we may supply the churches with the Spirit for the testimony of Jesus and be rewarded by the Lord to participate in the marriage dinner of the Lamb.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—
TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1: The Greek word for coming (parousia) means “presence” (Matt. 24:27; 2 Thes. 2:8).
(Please explain that this word parousia refers to His coming over a period of time.)
T2: Two different aspects of the Lord’s second coming: the hidden, secret aspect and the manifested, open aspect (Matt. 24:43-44, 30).
(Please explain that His coming is hidden and secret at the beginning and manifested and open at the end.)
Day 2
T1: The gospel of the kingdom emphasizes the heavenly ruling of God and the authority of the Lord (Matt. 24:14; Rev. 6:2).
(Please explain that the greatest sign of the end of this age is the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom to the whole inhabited earth.)
T2: Israel as a fig tree is a sign concerning the Lord’s coming (Matt. 24:32-33).
(Please explain that another great sign of the Lord’s coming is when Israel was miraculously restored as a nation.)
Day 3
T1: See the signs of the Lord’s second and imminent coming (Matt. 24:1-3; 2 Thes. 2:3,7)
(Please explain that before the day of the Lord’s second coming, the apostasy will come, and the man of lawlessness, Antichrist, will be revealed.)
T2: See the signs of the Lord’s second and imminent coming (Matt. 18:8, 24:12, James 5:3).
(Please explain the signs of the Lord’s second coming: a lack of faith among many of Christ’s believers;the love of the many will grow cold; men will accumulate wealth in an unprecedented way.)
Day 4
T1: While the worldly people are befuddled by the material things, some of the sober and watchful believers will be taken away (Matt. 24:40-41).
(Please explain that ss we wait for His coming and expect to be raptured, we must be very faithful in our daily duties.)
T2: We need to be watchful and prepared so that we may be raptured before the great tribulation (Matt. 24:40-41).
(Please explain why of the two men in the field, one is taken and the other is left.)
Day 5
T1: Matthew 25:1-13 concerns our destiny for at least one thousand years (Matt. 25:1-13).
(Please explain that if we do not pay the price required to buy the extra portion of oil in this age, the price we will have to pay in the next age will be great, high, and costly.)
T2: To be watchful is to prepare ourselves every day by buying the oil (Matt. 24:44, 25:10).
(Please explain that our spiritual transformation is a daily and lifelong matter.)
Day 6
T1: To watch and be ready should be our daily exercise for the Lord’s parousia (Matt. 24:44, 25:10).
(Please explain according to your own experience that to buy indicates the need of paying a price.)
T2: The Christian life is of our buying of the oil (Matt. 25:10).
(Please explain that to receive the Holy Spirit into our spirit, our lamp, is free, but to have the Spirit saturating our soul is not free.)
