Matthew (Program #68) – Prophecy of the Kingdom (7)

The parables in Matthew chapters 24 and 25 are the Lord’s clear word to us regarding His second coming and many of the things that happened at that time. Interestingly, all three categories of people on the earth are covered in these parables. The Jews in Israel, the believers in the Church, and the unsaved, the gentiles, the nations.  If we know these parables, we have a very good picture of what’s ahead.  And what’s ahead for the believers, the Christians, is something that every saved one should know.

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Matthew (Program #67) – Prophecy of the Kingdom (6)

There is a parable in Matthew 25 about utilizing the gifts or talents that the Lord has given to us for His interests. The faithful ones in this parable not only used them for the Lord, but even gained more talents for Him. While the unfaithful servant didn’t lose what the Lord had given him, he just failed to use it to make a profit for the Master. But what are these talents and what is it to use them to gain profit for the Lord?

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Lamentations (Program #5) – Conclusion

The emphasis on this life study was very New Testament in flavor. In both Jeremiah and Lamentations, there are some real gems of New Testament divine thought and revelations that come through. And we touch some of these early on in this life studies. So we’d thought that it will be interesting today to pull together three portions of those earlier programs as we review these high points.

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Matthew (Program #66) – Prophecy of the Kingdom (5)

The parable says that when the Lord as the Bridegroom comes, ten virgins will go forth to meet Him. But of these ten, five will be deemed by the Lord to be unwise and not ready. So five will go in to the wedding, and five will be refused. Just what is it to be wise and to be ready? Do these terms simply mean to be saved?

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Lamentations (Program #4) – God’s Eternal Being and His Throne

The book of Lamentations has often been praised for its rich poetic expression of the human suffering and anguish that was experienced by the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah. And from this perspective, it is an astonishing work. But recall that Jeremiah, more than any other Old Testament figure, has seen much and experienced much of God in the principle of God’s New Testament economy. Even in the midst of His lamentation, he offers a very new testament encouragement in 3:22-24, “It is Jehovah’s lovingkindness”, he wrote, “that we are not consumed, For His compassions do not fail; They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. Jehovah is my portion, says my soul; Therefore I hope in Him.” It is Jeremiah’s realization and expressions of God’s New Testament economy that should leave the deepest and most profound impression on us in reading his two Old Testament books.

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Matthew (Program #65) – Prophecy of the Kingdom (4)

Of all the parables in the final chapters of Matthew, none is more striking and sobering than the parable of the ten virgins in chapter 25. Coupled with the other parables around it, we can clearly see that at His Coming, the Lord will judge and examine His people, the believing and saved ones. This judgment will not be concerning sin or our eternal salvation, of that we have been assured. But in the matters of watchfulness and faithfulness we will be examined. Not at the risk of our salvation, but at the potential risk of the reward of the enjoyment of the kingdom.

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Lamentations (Program #3) – The Third Lamentations (2)

The prophet Jeremiah in the Old Testament had much to be sorrowful for.  For all around him is God’s judgment.  This judgment fell upon God’s people Israel because of their degradation and their unfaithfulness.  It also fell upon the nations that surrounded Israel for opposing God’s people and His purpose.  And finally God’s judgment fell upon the prophet himself, not so much for his own failures and sins but rather because the prophet Jeremiah properly identified with his people Israel and thereby shared in their judgment.  It was these sufferings that brought him to pour out his heart and soul to Jehovah in the short book called Lamentations.  But in so doing, we see some wonderful passages that can be immense help to those of us in the New Testament economy.  For Jeremiah learned to practice three marvelous things that sustain him and likewise can sustain us.  We will look at these three in today’s program.

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Lamentations (Program #2) – The Third Lamentations

The book of Lamentations was written by the prophet Jeremiah after he had witnessed the devastation that had befallen on the nation and people of Israel.  Altogether he includes five lamentations in this short book.   The third of which is perhaps the most important for us, God’s New Testament people because this lamentation is one of the prophets being identified with the rebellious people of God, the apostate nation of Israel.  Even though Jeremiah himself had remained utterly faithful to the Lord.  Yet because he still was an Israelite, God was demonstrating to him that every true prophet must identify with God’s people even in their chastisement and suffering.  But another striking element of this lamentation bears a uniquely New Testament quality and even hints of God’s desire to restore His chosen people, even to impart Himself to the deepest part of their being.

With that in view, now listen closely to Jeremiah’s own words in this third lamentation. “It is Jehovah’s loving-kindness that we are not consumed, For His compassions do not fail;They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. Jehovah is my portion, says my soul; Therefore I hope in Him. Jehovah is good to those who wait on Him, To the soul that seeks Him.“

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Matthew (Program #64) – Prophecy of the Kingdom (3)

In Matthew 23, the disciples asked the Lord Jesus for the signs of His coming back and establishing the age of the kingdom. And though He told them that no one except God the Father knows the exact time, yet there are definite signs and indications that will point to His imminent return. As we look at the signs that He gave them in chapter 24, we can see very clearly that many of these things are taking place today, in our lifetime. So the word is clear to watch and be ready. What happens to us as believers if we are not watchful and ready?

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Matthew (Program #63) – Prophecy of the Kingdom (2)

After shocking His disciples with the prophecy concerning the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, they asked the Lord then for signs that would signal the end of the Age and His Coming. He responded by telling them to watch for a very specific event, the abomination of desolation spoken of through Daniel. Just what is this key event that will signal the end of the Age and the Coming of Christ?

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