The Midnight Cry

"And at midnight there was a cry made, 'Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him'" (Mt 25:6).

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver

The certainty of the great and glorious day of the Lord is a sobering consideration. There are "secret things" associated with that day as well as "things revealed" (Deut 29:29). The secret things include the day and the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh. For "of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but My Father only" (Mt 24:36). That being the case, the things revealed are of great interest to us. Let us consider those things for it is the business of every man to be prepared to meet their God (Amos 4:12) on that day.

The Parable of the Ten Virgins. In teaching His disciples about His return Jesus spoke to them a parable about ten virgins awaiting a bridegroom (Mt 25:1-13). Five of the virgins were wise by bringing extra oil for their lamps. Five of the virgins were foolish taking their lamps but taking no oil with them. The bridegroom postponed his coming until midnight and the foolish virgins ran out of oil. Then, suddenly, they heard a cry, "behold, the bridegroom cometh." Finding themselves wanting, they went to buy more oil but "the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage and the door was shut" (Mt 25:10). Those foolish virgins found themselves on the outside of the marriage supper. It was too late. No entrance would be granted them. They would spend the rest of their time away from his presence, no doubt regretting their foolish decision making.

Jesus is that Bridegroom and men are those virgins. We know that the Bridegroom is coming and we must be ready Him. Salvation provides us with all the necessary supplies to be ready. It is incumbent upon believers to live by faith and patience until His return and that which is committed unto them. His coming will be as "a thief in the night" (1 Th 5:2; 2 Pet 3:10) and we, therefore, must always be prepared. For if we are not ready on that last day nothing else really matters.

There Will be a "Cry." When the Lord Jesus returns there will not be, as some suppose, a "secret rapture" where many are mysteriously missing leaving everyone else confused. That teaching is simply theological fiction produced to sell books. The Scripture declares that all of creation will be in audience when "the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God" (1 Th 4:16). No one will miss this event. "Every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him" (Rev 1:7). The Bridegroom will not come without a great announcement. He will come with a cry, even a shout!

Have Your Lamps Trimmed. Everyone will give an account to the Lord for the deeds done in the body (2 Cor 5:10). Make it your aim to give a good account. All those who are prepared to meet Him are hastening that day. The "glorious appearing of the great God and [their] Savior Jesus Christ" is their "blessed hope" (Tit 2:13). They long to hear that "last trump"(1 Cor 15:52) when "the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up" (2 Pet 3:10). They rejoice in this because they themselves will rise above this inferno being "caught up together" with all those who are asleep in Jesus. There they will "meet the Lord in the air" (1 Th 4:17). This is the hope that stabilizes the soul causing it not to waver. For everyone who has this hope in themselves purifies himself even as He is pure (1 Jn 3:3). In that day everything that the saints of God have longed for and waited for will be theirs. Namely, their inheritance as it is written, "so shall we ever be with the Lord" (1 Th 4:17).

The Peril of Being Unprepared. Those who are not prepared, who have ran out of oil, will weep in that day. The day of the Lord is a day of reckoning where the scales of justice will be balanced. It is a day when God will repay every man according to their works, their labor and their faith. Those who are storing up wrath for themselves now (Rom 2:5) will taste of it then.

Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you, and to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power. (2 Thessalonians 1:6-9)

It will not end well for anyone who is surprised when He comes. All of this life is preparatory for eternity. Anyone who neglected salvation; anyone who despised Christ; anyone who caused harm to His saints; anyone who did not obey the gospel but considered it foolishness will find themselves as the fools in that day. They will find that the Lord will not allow men to forsake His Son and get away with it. They will seek the mercy of death but will not find it.

And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the might men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb;" for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? (Revelation 6:14-17)

The Lord is Patient. Those who are unprepared now can, and must, consider every day that the Lord tarries His coming as a day of salvation. Each day is another day to repent. If they examine themselves and find that they will not be "found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless" then they can "account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation" (2 Pet 3:14-15) knowing that He is "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Pet 3:9).

Now is the day to repent and escape the wrath to come. Make the most of the opportunity. Separate yourself from this perverse generation. Seek the Lord in a time when He may be found. The day of the Lord is coming. The bridegroom is coming. When you hear that midnight cry let it be for you a time of rejoicing. Let it be said by you in that day, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us; this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation" (Isa 25:9). Be dressed in readiness, brethren. "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh" (Mt 25:13).