The
heavens have long been silent. It is one of the leading characteristics
of this present age, the closed, the silent heavens. But they will not
be silent forever. "Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence" (Psalm
50:3). In His divine Patience the Lord has been at the right hand of
God for nearly two thousand years. He will not occupy that place forever.
It is not His permanent station to be upon the Father's throne. He has
the promise of His own throne, which He as the King-Priest must occupy.
Nearly two thousand years have gone since He passed through the heavens and during that time He has been rejected by the world. Every possible dishonor, insult and shame has been heaped upon His holy head through the instrumentality of the enemy, the devil. Never before has the rejection of the Man in Glory been so pronounced, so radical, so blasphemous as now. Those who love the Lord Jesus Christ are constantly seized by an unspeakable grief on account of these awful denials of the Christ of God and an horror as well. And still He patiently waits. But He will not always wait. His Patience will some day be exhausted. He will pray His unprayed prayer in Glory and ask of the Father the nations and the uttermost parts of the earth. The Father will then send the Firstborn back to this earth. When He comes in visible Glory to this earth it will mean the day of vengeance. The vengeance of God will fall upon His enemies. All the Christ rejecters, the wicked men and women who received not the love of the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness, the enemies of the cross of Christ, though they lived amiable lives (one of Satan's pet phrases), will meet Him not as the patient lamb, but the Judge, the lion of the tribe of Judah.
What will it be when His Patience is ended? What will it be when the kingdom and the Patience of Jesus Christ give way to the kingdom and Glory of Jesus Christ? Rapidly the day is nearing when the Lord Jesus Christ will be completely rejected. As long as the true church is still here this complete rejection is an impossibility. But the church will some day leave this earth. Then conditions are ripe for the complete rejection of the Christ and the reception of Antichrist who will then appear. And when the beast is worshipped (Rev. 13) and the world defies God and His anointed as never before, when the nations of apostate Christendom stand in battle array (Rev. 19:19), then He will come as the King whose patience is ended and claim His Kingdom.
What will it mean when His Patience is ended? Who can describe it? What judgments will fall then upon a wicked world and be meted out upon the enemies of Christ? The day of vengeance is rapidly approaching. It is the day of vengeance for the world. It is the day of the Glory of Christ. It is the day of the Glory of the Saints. It is the day of your Glory as a believer.
Let us suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. Let us be patient as long as He is patient. "Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door" (James 5:8-9).
In His Patience pray for the unsaved. Preach the Gospel, give out the Gospel, send the Gospel, give for the Gospel, live the Gospel. A little while longer and His patience will end.
Trusting in the Lord thy God,
Onward go.
Holding fast His faithful word,
Onward go.
Not denying His worthy name,
Though it brings reproach and shame,
Spreading still His wondrous fame,
Onward go.
Has He said the end is near
Onward go.
Serving Him with holy fear,
Onward go.
Christ thy portion, Christ thy stay—
Heavenly bread upon the way,
Leading on to glorious day—
Onward go.
From The Lord of Glory... by A. C. Gaebelein. New York: Publication Office "Our Hope", ©1910.
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