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Old 03-25-2014, 05:27 AM   #90
OBW
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Default Re: Outer darkness: A thousand years? or for eternity?

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Originally Posted by Elden1971 View Post
Every one must admit that the assembly has failed as the candlestick; as the witness for Christ in the world, during His absence. True, all the light there is for God on the earth is found in the assembly, but where, in any part of it, can one find even accurate fragments of the truth, as it was at the beginning, except where our future state as the bride is before the soul, imparting its moral features and power? There is no clear knowledge of what becomes the assembly on earth, or at the present moment, but as it is prepared for what it shall be. The assembly at first was both the candlestick or lampstand and the bride; the one present, the other in prospect; and it is remarkable that as soon as the future was lost sight of by the servants in their hearts and practice, so did the assembly lose its proper energy and moral influence. We read (Matt. 25:1, 5), “Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom ... While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.” A sleeping saint has neither the sense of life nor does he manifest the activity of life. When the assembly lost sight of the coming of the Lord, she lost the sense of internal power, and was no longer the expression of it to man. When the first love waned, when the saints were satisfied with the reception of grace, without the heart going out in the earnest desire to see the Lord, they were no longer the lampstand. Surely they had light still; there was no light elsewhere on earth, but they had forfeited the visible demonstration of the Holy Spirit, because they had failed in being in heart and practice the bride. If they were not active in heart to their absent Lord, they were not to be entrusted with the honour of the Lord on earth; nor would they be invested with His name and rights on the earth where He had been disallowed. While there was a true earnest purpose of heart in watching for His return, the assembly on earth was clothed with Christ’s power, as He said, “I am glorified in them”; but when she became supine, and indifferent to His coming, then there was a distinct withdrawal of visible favour; the office of candlestick or lampstand was no longer entrusted to her, and thus the church went on for centuries. At length, at midnight, there was a cry heard, “Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.” This cry reached with power the heart of every one with oil in his vessel — with life through the Holy Spirit. The affection was really there, but it was smothered and inoperative, because not called into occupation with the only object which could feed and enliven it, even Christ Himself. JBStoney
This seems to be milking the story for more than is intended and more than the remainder (which is the larger part) of all scripture would suggest.

If the sleeping is the problem, then why did Jesus have only sleeping ones and make no reference to it other than to note that they were all awakened. What was the differentiating factor? It was not sleep. It was oil.

It would seem that the parable tells of some who started on a particular journey long before the necessary time. They had a focus, but because their singular aim was not imminent, they fell asleep. What is it to fall asleep? It is not even hinted at. But it could be nothing more than that the realities of life could not be ignored while "the bridegroom tarried."

Ever notice that there has been the anticipation of the return of the Lord since the time almost immediately after his ascension, yet here we are nearly 2,000 years after that time and it has not happened (at least if we assume that our understanding of the whole thing is correct — and I generally do believe that). Too often, those who get fired up for the eminent return are filled with exuberance, but it wanes in the face of normal life. In the face of work, troubles at home, aches, pains, and serious illness. As life goes along, some exist from re-ignition to re-ignition of exuberance. But often those begin to fade in their ability to recharge them toward the Lord. Others engage in regular, but less outward ways and seem to be steady, even if never (or seldom) outwardly on fire. Yet you will find them to be solid to the end.

I believe that sleeping in the parable is not the problem. It is the reality for all of us. Life continues. The bridegroom we are waiting for has not come for 2,000 years and may not come for another 2,000 years. But each life will come to a point of meeting. At death, we will "sleep" with the Lord. There is no more oil to be gained then. It is strictly about what has gone before. No one can pray us to get more oil, or pay for it. We either have it or we don't.

We initially go out to meet the bridegroom when we pass from darkness to life. But what do we do with the time from then until he comes to meet us? Eventually most of us will sleep. Unless we are the few who are alive at the actual return, sleep is inevitable. And many of us know it well. Some who we have known are already in that sleep. Some went earlier than others. Some may have years before it begins.

But oil is not better meetings. It is not some metaphorical better assembly that manages to remain as a candlestick. Frankly, given the extreme state of some of those churches in Revelation 2 and 3 who still had theirs, I am not as easy to persuade that lampstands are so quickly removed. I know there are some who will disagree, but I am not sure that the RCC has lost theirs. Oh, they have many things among them that ought not be. But they still have not lost sight of the only thing that saves them. And despite the rhetoric of us Protestants, it would appear that they do not believe that Christ is actually re-sacrificed every time they have communion.

The problem is that we spend too much of our time worrying about what kind of oil others have rather than worrying about our own. If there is a problem, it is not with the church. It is with those who would be the church. Any church. God is not after some uniform, glorious beacon of truth. He is after people who bear his image in everything they do. He is after their obedience, not their sacrifice of praise. Out of obedience will come the praise. But praise from those who are not obedient is hollow and is not what He seeks.
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