wise virgins | The Lord Jesus Is Knocking at Your Door

By Wu Wen

There is an article titled “Checking the Clams.” It is a story about a boy who likes clams very much. One day, his mother bought a big bag of clams home. In order to have delicious clams, he decided to check the clams before cooking to see if they are good or not and to sort out the bad ones. So, he took out a clam, thinking it was fresh and alive, and used it as the standard to measure whether or not the other clams smelled off. Then he lightly tapped on their shells, and compared them with the standard one. He tapped those clams one by one, but after he was finished, he found that all the other clams were either bad or dead. He told his mother about this. Yet his mother thought it was impossible, so, she went to see what happened. Afterward she realized that it wasn’t because the other clams were not fresh, but because the clam he used as a measure was actually bad. In this case, how could he tell if the other clams are good or not when he used a bad clam as the standard?

After reading the story, I am anxious for the hero because I have thought that his mother was deceived by the vendor, and that he could not eat the clams that day. Never have I imagined that the first clam was actually a bad one. Yet, he thought it was good relying on his imagination, and used it as the standard, which resulted in that all the good clams were considered bad. If his mother hadn’t found his fault in time, he, I think, would have discarded all the clams. Imaginations and conceptions are really harmful to people!

I can’t help but think of the Age of Law. At that time, the Jewish chief priests, scribes and Pharisees eagerly longed for the return of the Messiah, but at the same time, they tried their best to oppose and condemn Him. They harbored lots of illusions about the prophecies, and thought that the Savior should be called the Messiah when He came back; that He should be born in the imperial palace or in a noble family or at least in an eminent family. Yet when the Lord Jesus came, He wasn’t called the Messiah and was born in a common family, which completely was against their conceptions and imaginations. So they began to wantonly blaspheme and condemn the Lord Jesus. They held on to their mistaken view that as long as You are not called the Messiah, You are not Christ to resist and malign the Lord Jesus. They didn’t have the heart that seeks the truth at all. In the end, not only did they fail to welcome the Messiah, but nailed the Lord Jesus to the cross. They committed a monstrous sin and the whole nation was subjected to destruction.

But the Samaritan woman was different. After the Lord Jesus’ conversation with her, she knew that the Lord Jesus was the coming Messiah, the Christ. So she followed the Lord Jesus. When the Lord called upon Peter, John, Matthew, Mark and others, although they didn’t recognized that the Lord Jesus was the Messiah, they were able to obey and follow the Lord since they found His preachings had truth, rather than judge Him by what they can see with their own eyes or by others’ words. So did Nathanael, who was immediately convinced, and believed that the Lord Jesus was the coming One and followed Him, when he heard the Lord Jesus speak out the thoughts in his heart. Also, many people followed the Lord Jesus, after they heard the Lord Jesus’ preaching and the truth expressed by Him, such as these verses “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17), “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like to it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40), and so on, and after saw the deeds of the Lord Jesus: feeding five thousand with five loaves and two fish, calming the wind and sea, and resurrecting the dead with one word, etc. From the above, we can see that these people didn’t rely on their notions and imaginations, and were not constrained by the Pharisees. Instead, through His utterance and work, they recognized the Lord Jesus was the coming Messiah and thus followed Him. So they welcomed the Lord, having a vastly different fate from the other Jews.

In Isaiah 55:8-9, Jehovah God said: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, said the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” It can clearly be seen that no man can fathom God’s work. God is wise and omnipotent. He can’t do His work according to our conceptions and imaginations. Just like when the Lord Jesus came, all the people thought God’s name should be the Messiah, and that He should be born in the palace. However, God’s work greatly struck back at the conceptions of man. The Lord Jesus wasn’t called the Messiah, and He was born in the manger. So we can’t delineate the work of God according to the imaginations in our mind. As Christians, we are eagerly longing for the Lord’s early coming. What should we do to welcome Him, avoiding repeating committing the mistake of the Jews?

Recalling these years, I’ve been thinking that the Lord will return on a white cloud with a big commotion—the angels’ trumpets will sound, and the dead will come back to life. So in these years, I often watch the clouds in the sky, waiting for the Lord’s return on a white cloud to bring us to the heavenly home. Though some people around me have testified to me that the Lord Jesus has returned and expressed words and done the work of judgment beginning at the house of God, I’m still unwilling to seek and investigate. As a result, I have been longing and waiting for the day. However, after so many years, the Lord doesn’t come or lift us into the air to meet Him. Thinking about that now, haven’t I defined God in my conceptions that Any Lord Jesus who doesn’t come on a white cloud is a false Christ? Don’t I still live in my conceptions and imaginations when I am welcoming the Lord’s return just like that?

When I study the verses, I find Revelation prophesying: “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches; To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the middle of the paradise of God” (Revelation 2:7), “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27), and “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20). From these verses, we can see that the key to welcoming the Lord’s return is that we should pay attention to listening to God’s voice and try to know Him through His words and His work, just like the wise virgins, who went to greet the Bridegroom when they heard His voice. Didn’t the Samaritan woman recognize the Lord Jesus as the Messiah from His utterance? In addition, it is also through His utterance and deeds that the disciples that followed the Lord Jesus, such as: Peter, John, Matthew, and Philip, found that the Lord Jesus is the One who has authority and power and thus followed Him. They didn’t define the Lord relying on their conceptions and imaginations, but chose to listen to God’s voice, and in the end, they gained the salvation of the Lord Jesus! This shows that to pay attention to listening to God’s voice is of great importance for us to welcome His return!

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Instruction: always saved