Will you please turn to Luke 19? Just one verse—verse 13:
And having called His own ten servants, He gave to them ten minas, and said to them, “Trade while I am coming.”
Let us have a further word of prayer.
Dear Lord, how we praise and thank Thee for the table that Thou hast spread for us. Lord, we have taken the bread and the wine. We praise and thank Thee for the wonderful salvation that Thou hast provided for us.
Lord, in the good of all that Thou hast done, we gather here before Thee and pray, Lord, that Thou wilt once again speak to us. Enable us to understand and bring us into the reality of Thy Word.
We commit this time again into Thy hand, trusting the Holy Spirit to finish the work that Thou hast wonderfully begun. And we praise and worship in Thy name. Amen.
I always find it very difficult to speak after the Lord’s table. As a matter of fact, I think if we really enter into the spirit of the Lord’s table, there is no need to speak again. He has brought us into His very presence, and we continue in His presence until He comes. How wonderful that will be.
But it is the arrangement of the brothers, and I have to obey.
The theme is: “Trade—occupy—while the Lord says, ‘I am coming.’” The Lord is coming.
Even before He left, you remember how His disciples, when they heard that the Lord was going to leave them, were very depressed. Why? The Lord was their Comforter. In other words, the Lord took all care of them. And now suddenly the Lord would be leaving them.
I think if we were in that situation, we would feel sorry also. But sadly, it is sorrow for ourselves, not sorrow for the Lord. For the Lord is returning to His Father. He is returning to glory, and we should be happy about it. But we are thinking of ourselves.
So the Lord gave them two promises—wonderful promises. One is that He would give them the Holy Spirit as another Comforter.
While He was with them, He could only be with them because He was in the flesh. But when the Comforter, another Comforter, was given, He is the Spirit of God. So He can dwell in each and every one of us, and He would never leave us nor forsake us. How wonderful that another Comforter will be.
But added to that, the Lord said, “I go to prepare a place for you. And after I have prepared that place, I will come back and receive you to Myself.”
So even before the Lord left them, He promised them that He would come back. He is coming to receive them to Himself.
This promise of His return was given to His disciples two thousand years ago.
You know, the disciples at that time, because of this promise, were actually expecting the Lord to come back in their lifetime. The same happened in every century. God’s people, those who really love Him, were waiting for the Lord to return in their lifetime.
But because the Lord did not come in their lifetime, they went to sleep—the old brothers and sisters. Because of that, you remember, there will be some mockers.
As in 2 Peter 3, we are told that there will be mockers saying, “Where is the coming of the Lord? Does the earth remain just as it was created?”
Now, they forget that this present earth was drowned by water, but the Lord repaired it. And this present earth will remain until that day when it will be burned up. Why? Because the Lord considers a thousand years as one day, and one day as a thousand years.
Why has the Lord not come yet? Is not the Bridegroom anxious to come and receive His bride? Why has He delayed all these years?
Brothers and sisters, it is not because of Him; it is because of us.
As our brother Lance Lambert used to say, “The Lord cannot be married to a baby. He has to be married to His counterpart, His like.” And as long as we are not His like, He will have to wait until He can be joined together to one who is like Him.
So, brothers and sisters, we know that the Lord is coming. He can come at any time. He is waiting for His bride to be completed.
You know, when we talk about the coming of the Lord, we often think of prophecy, because God has given us many prophecies concerning the time.
But, dear brothers and sisters, I can assure you that all the prophecies preceding the coming of the Lord have been fulfilled. You do not need to wait for any more prophecy to be fulfilled before His coming.
Now, that does not mean there will be no more prophecy. No, there are still many prophecies. But these prophecies are concerned with the time when He comes and afterwards. All the prophecies that precede the coming of the Lord have been fulfilled, and we are living in that period.
So our Lord Jesus can come back at any time. What will be the sign that the coming of the Lord has begun?
You know, when you read Matthew 24, you will find that, as in the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Lord.
Now, the word coming here is a special word. It is parousia. And the word parousia, as we are told by Greek authorities, is not one time, one event. Parousia means presence.
Our Lord, so far as His physical body is concerned, is absent today. We know the Lord is with us, but He is with us in the Spirit. But one day, He will be present again, and that is parousia.
Now, parousia is a period of time, including a series of events. So when the Lord said, “As in the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Lord,” today our Lord is absent, but one day He will be present. His presence is a period of time—a series of events.
You remember, when our Lord Jesus ascended from Mount Olivet to heaven, the disciples were there with Him. They saw Him going up. They saw Him leaving Mount Olivet and rising upward. While they were looking at Him, a cloud came and took Him away. They could not see Him anymore.
They knew He was still ascending, so they were still looking up. And you remember Acts 1, how two men in white appeared. The Bible does not say two angels appeared; it says two men appeared in white.
Now, I will not try to tell you who these two men are. You have to find out yourself.
And the two men appeared to them and said:
Men of Galilee, why are ye looking into heaven?
This Jesus, Who was received up from you into heaven,
shall so come in like manner as ye beheld Him going into heaven.
To put it another way, the way He went to heaven will be the way He comes down to Mount Olivet. Now, what is the way? You find it: from Mount Olivet to the cloud, visible; from the cloud to heaven, invisible.
But how would we know that He had arrived? Well, because of Pentecost. At Pentecost, because He had arrived in heaven and was anointed by God, the oil began to fall down. That is Pentecost. So that is proof that He has arrived.
And another proof you find in Revelation 5: a Lamb newly slain stood before the throne.
So, brothers and sisters, as we think of the coming of the Lord, there are two stages. The one stage is from the throne to the cloud—invisible.
If you are trying to look for a visible return of the Lord, the first part is invisible. That is the reason why the Bible uses the expression, “He will come as a thief.”
Now, brothers and sisters, would a thief come to your house with a blaring trumpet and say, “I am coming”? If a thief should do that, he could never steal anything. You would be watching.
A thief seems to always know when you are not ready, and suddenly he will come. Now, when he comes, what will he steal from you? Your garbage? I would welcome him every night.
Strangely, the thief seems always to know where your treasure is. He will go straight and get your treasure, and leave your trash behind.
Now, brothers and sisters, that is what the Lord will do when He comes. That is the reason why, in Matthew 24, you find that when He comes, the Bible says:
Two men shall be in the field;
one is taken, and one is left.
Two women shall be grinding at the mill;
one is taken, and one is left.
And then in Luke 17, we are told that two are sleeping, and one is taken and one is left.
Now, it does not mean you have six here. You have only two here. Why? Because the earth is round. When the Lord comes, in some places it is morning, so the women are grinding the meal in the morning. In another place it is noontime, so the men are working in the field. And in still another place it is night, so two are sleeping in bed.
Brothers and sisters, do not be afraid to go to sleep tonight. Even when you are sleeping, you may be taken.
You know, some people, thinking that the Lord is coming, say, “What should we do?” They leave their jobs, go to the desert, and all dress up waiting for His coming. But He does not come. Everything will be as usual, but the unusual event will come.
Now, why two? The full number of the church is twelve, but here you have only two. Where are the ten?
If you study the Bible, have you read Matthew 25? What do you find? You have ten virgins. And the ten virgins are divided also into two kinds: five wise, five foolish.
The five wise virgins have extra oil in their vessels, prepared for emergency. But the five foolish do not have extra oil in their vessels. They must have vessels too, but probably they have put in some other things more precious to them.
And you know, they all had a torch in their hands. At that time, it was not the lamp that we have; they used a torch. And, of course, in the torch there would be oil, because a torch without oil cannot give light.
So they all had torches, with oil in the torches, and they all carried the torches to go and welcome the Bridegroom. But because the Bridegroom delayed, they all fell asleep.
But then at midnight, suddenly, a voice said, “The Bridegroom cometh!” And they all woke up and tried to see if their torches were burning. Of course not. So they had to add oil to keep them burning, so that they could go and welcome the Bridegroom.
But the foolish ones’ torches went out, and they had no extra oil. They had to go and buy oil. Now remember, the extra oil had to be bought. And if you have to buy it, you have to pay for it.
The indwelling Holy Spirit is a gift of God. You do not need to pay anything; He has been given to you. But to be filled with the Holy Spirit, you need to pay something.
So you find in this parable that you have the ten, and then in Matthew 24 you have the two. So you have the perfect number of the church.
The ten virgins who went to sleep represent the saints who have died throughout the centuries. You know, in every century, even in the first century, those who loved the Lord were waiting for the Lord to return in their lifetime. But because the Lord delayed, they died.
But that does not mean that because they died they lost the chance. No. They will be raised from the dead and enter into the marriage feast, if they have extra oil.
So, dear brothers and sisters, we are the two at this present time. We are on the verge of the coming of the Lord. At any time, suddenly, some Christians throughout the world will disappear.
Now, as I was speaking, you cannot see any difference. They look the same. They do the same thing. And yet the Lord knows who is waiting for Him, who is prepared for Him. And those who are ready, He will take to Himself.
So, dear brothers and sisters, we are not waiting for any more signs, any more fulfilment of prophecy. This can happen, thank God, at any time. How good it would be if it happened now. But are you ready?
You know, the Lord used two different types to tell us of the two sections of His return. He used the thief—from the throne to the air, invisible.
He used lightning, as you find in Luke 17. Do not say, “The Lord is here,” or, “The Lord is there.” It is like lightning that shines from the east to the west; everybody sees it.
So the second part, from the air to Mount Olivet, is like lightning. Everybody will see it. Why? Because He will bring His own, those overcomers, to come down from the cloud, and His feet will touch Mount Olivet.
As you find in Zechariah, the prophet Zechariah tells us that His feet will touch Mount Olivet, and Mount Olivet will be divided into two. Scientists today have already seen that in Mount Olivet there is a line there. If there is an earthquake, this mount can be divided into two parts.
And God—the Lord—will come to deliver His children, Israel. So, brothers and sisters, how will He come today? He will come as a thief. Are you ready for Him at any time?
When you read Revelation 12, you find a vision. It is the vision of the coming of the Lord.
You see a vision of the woman in travail. That woman was clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and she had a crown with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.
Now, who is that woman? It is a vision of the coming of the Lord. So that woman represents the church—the church at the time of the coming of the Lord. The church is a glorious church, and the church is in travail to bring forth a man-child.
And you find another vision: a dragon. And, of course, when you think of the dragon, you know it represents Satan, the enemy. The dragon was there waiting for the woman to bring forth that man-child. Why? He wanted to swallow that man-child.
Strangely, the dragon was not interested in the woman. He should have been, but the woman seemed to be in such a state that he did not need to bother with her. In other words, the church had lost her testimony.
So the dragon was not really interested in the church, but he was interested in the man-child. Why? He knew that from him would come forth that which would bruise his head.
Now, who is the man-child? Some people say it is Christ. But, brothers and sisters, after Christ was born, He spent thirty-three and a half years on earth before He died, resurrected, and ascended. But this man-child, immediately after he was born, was taken up to the throne. So he cannot be Christ.
And this man-child, as you read on in Revelation 12, is a collective term, because as you read on, it says:
They overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb,
and because of the word of their testimony;
and they loved not their life even unto death.
So this man-child will be the overcomers at the coming of the Lord. They represent the ones that will be taken. And as soon as that number is fulfilled, when the man-child is born, he is immediately taken up to the throne.
You know, the air that surrounds the earth is where the headquarters of Satan is. And if you can go through his headquarters to reach the throne, it means that you have overcome the one who stays there.
Because in their lives they have overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb. Of course, they were not perfect, but they knew the value of the blood of the Lamb.
Brothers and sisters, we will never grow to such an extent that we do not need the blood of our Lord Jesus. As a matter of fact, the closer you are to the Lord, the more you realize how you need the blood to cleanse you. Even the tears of your repentance need to be cleansed by the blood of the Lamb.
You know, there was a story. Once the devil came to Martin Luther, the Reformer, and showed him a book. That book was the sins of Martin Luther, written inside and outside. And the devil said, “How dare you do this work of reformation? Look at yourself.”
But Martin Luther took up a pen and wrote over that book, “The blood of the Lord Jesus cleanses from all sin.” And the devil disappeared.
Brothers and sisters, we treasure the blood of the Lamb. It is only through the blood that we can stand before God.
And daily, by the word of their testimony, these people have a testimony. Testimony is not just something you speak with your mouth. Testimony is something that has been built into your life. You live out the testimony.
What is our testimony? When you read the Book of Revelation, you find it is the testimony of Jesus. The apostle John, for the testimony of Jesus and for the Word, was exiled to the island of Patmos. And many people died for the testimony of Jesus.
In other words, they testify that Jesus is Lord. How do you testify that Jesus is Lord? You surrender your life completely to Him and take His lordship over you. You allow Him to be Lord over your life—not just a few things, but your whole life is under His lordship. Allow Him to be Lord over you.
And this testimony that you bear is in you, so when you speak it, there is power there.
You remember the funny story in Acts, at Ephesus. There were seven sons of the high priest, and they were doing exorcisms, driving out demons. When they saw Paul use the name of Jesus, and in the name of Jesus the demons left, they tried to use that formula.
They tried to drive out demons and said, “I command you to leave in the name of Jesus preached by Paul.” And the demon said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?”
And the demon overcame them, so they fled naked, and this was known in all Ephesus.
Brothers and sisters, the word of their testimony is based upon your life. If your life is under the testimony of Jesus, then when you say the name of Jesus, there is power in it. Otherwise, it is powerless.
And thirdly, they do not love their lives even unto death. The life there is the soul life.
Brothers and sisters, after we are saved, our greatest problem is our soul life. Because in our spirit we have Christ as our life, but in our soul the fallen Adam is still there.
And unless we are willing to lose our soul life for the sake of Christ, then we will still live according to our soul. If you love your soul life, the Lord said, you will lose it. If you lose it today, you will gain it unto eternity.
The salvation of the soul is just as important as the salvation of our spirit.
Brothers and sisters, when you are saved, it is your spirit that has been renewed.
That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Your spirit is renewed. Therefore, you can communicate with God, Who is Spirit. And Christ came in to dwell in your spirit, to be the life of your spirit.
But, brothers and sisters, your soul—the life in your soul—is still that fallen Adam. So that is the reason after you are saved, you find there is a civil war within you.
You find sometimes you want to follow the Lord and do His will, and yet you find there is within you another force, forcing you to rebel against God. And oftentimes you have more defeats than success.
But thank God, when you realize that there is no good in your flesh, then you can see that our Lord Jesus not only saves your spirit; He will save your soul.
In other words, He will come and replace Adam to be the life of your soul. So even your feelings, your mind, and your will will not represent you and behind you Satan, but will represent Christ.
The mind of Christ will be your mind. The feeling of Christ will be your feeling. The will of Christ will be your will. And that is the salvation of the soul.
And salvation of the soul is going on today, brothers and sisters, from the day you are saved until you go to see the Lord. As long as you live, the salvation of the soul is going on.
Are you cooperating? Do you yield yourself to the Holy Spirit within you? And if you do, then you will find your soul will be saved.
In other words, 1 Peter is exclusively on the salvation of the soul. Our soul needs to be saved. And if we do not love our soul life even unto death, then we become overcomers. We overcome our self-life.
So, brothers and sisters, in Revelation 12 it is equivalent to Matthew 24. The one who is taken will be taken to the throne. Why? Because they will be the welcoming party for the coming of the Lord. What a privilege that will be.
And, brothers and sisters, this privilege is ours today. So the thing is: the Lord is coming. He can come at any time. Are you ready?
After that man-child was raptured to the throne, what happened? Immediately you find Michael the archangel, with the angels of God. They will fight against Satan and his followers.
And Satan and his followers will be thrown from the air to the earth. In other words, the air will be clear for the coming of the Lord, because He will descend with the overcomers from the throne to the air.
Now, when Satan is thrown to the earth, what can you expect? The great tribulation—the three and a half years of great tribulation—because the trinity of evil will all be on the earth: Satan, Antichrist, and the false prophet.
But, brothers and sisters, even though, so far as the world is concerned, it will enter into the great tribulation, what about Christians? If those who are left behind—what will happen to them? Of course, they will go through the great tribulation.
You know, if you are an overcomer today, you read Revelation 3, and you hear that promise to the overcomers in the church in Philadelphia: when the time of trial of the whole world comes, those overcomers will not be here on earth.
But what about those who do not overcome? Thank God, He still gives them an opportunity. So you find that even in the great tribulation, the Christians who are left behind will suffer most.
But thank God, He gives them another opportunity to be overcomers. So you know the grace of God, the longsuffering of God—how He wants each and every one of us to be overcomers and not to be overcome. He will give us every opportunity, every chance, to be overcomers.
And they will eventually also reign with Christ for a thousand years.
Now, after the three and a half years of great tribulation, you remember what happened in 1 Thessalonians 4. There will be a shout, the trumpet sounds, the angel’s voice, and those who are dead in Christ will be raised from the dead.
And those who still remain—in other words, many do not remain anymore; they had already gone—but those who still remain behind, they will be changed. And all will be caught up. Where? Not to the throne—to the cloud.
So you see, our Lord Jesus and those overcomers have come to the cloud, waiting for the rest of the church to be raptured to the air.
And when they are raptured to the air, what happens? This is where the judgment seat of Christ begins. Our brother has already explained to us.
You know, I came from a huge family—four generations living in the same house. Even married aunts came back and stayed together.
And you know, in the old days, they had clans, big families. The head of the family was responsible for everything. My grandfather was responsible for everything—not only for our daily living, our education, and our marriages; he paid it all.
Big family. But, you know, people had nothing to do. They even gambled, smoked opium, and did all this gossiping. I went through all those days.
And from time to time, the head of the family would gather the whole family together in a big room. In the big room, there was one place that was lifted up, and he would sit on the platform.
The whole family would be called for a family meeting. If you were not a member of the family, you were not qualified to come. So the family would be standing before the head.
And he would be there giving praise and honour to those descendants who had brought honour to the family. They would be rewarded. And those who brought shame to the family, they would be disciplined. They were still children of the family, but they would be disciplined.
Now, that is exactly what will happen to Christians at the judgment seat of Christ. Those who overcome will be rewarded with reigning with Christ for a thousand years.
But those who are defeated in this life, they will be cast into outer darkness. And I know you must be very curious about outer darkness. What is it? Where is it? I will not tell you.
But anyway, you will find outer darkness. What does it mean? The Bible says there will be gnashing of teeth—in other words, repentance. You will be disciplined during the millennium, but eventually everyone will be completed.
Why? Because this is the eternal purpose of God. Do you know, once God has set His eye on you:
Whom He foreknew, He also called;
whom He called, He also justified;
whom He justified, He also sanctified.
In other words, it is the will of God that all who are called by Him will be completed, that we will all be transformed and conformed to the image of Christ.
Man may fail, but God never fails. He cannot fail. So thank God, once He has set His eye on you, if you cooperate, He will reward you. If you do not, He will discipline you in order to bring you into the likeness of Christ.
And eventually, in eternity, you find in Revelation 22 that they will all be kings. They will all serve the Lord for eternity. How good is our God.
Let us pray.
Dear Lord, we bow and worship. How marvellous is Thy grace. In spite of our failures, Thou never failest. Thank Thee for setting Thy eyes upon us, unworthy people.
O Lord, may we be counted worthy by Thee. Allow us to respond to Thy love. Enable us to love Thee as Thou hast loved us. Thank Thee for Thy everlasting love.
Lord, we want to respond and love Thee today. It is all by Thy grace. We ask in Thy name. Amen.