“Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times: and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but My people know not the judgment of the Lord. How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain. The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken; lo, they have rejected the Word of the Lord; and what wisdom is in them?” (Jer. 8:7-97Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord. 8How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain. 9The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord; and what wisdom is in them? (Jeremiah 8:7‑9).)
THE end of the year is near. The swallows are gone; the cold blasts of winter are come; but not one swallow is left behind. We saw them gathered together, and they were seen to fly higher, as the time to depart drew near. No one saw them go. But they are gone to sunny lands of the South. The frost and the snow, the sleet and the piercing winds of winter never reach them there. Very remarkable is the instinct of the birds, and is there not a lesson for us in it?
It was pleasing to watch the swallows as the winter drew near; how they would gather in companies, how they seemed to wait for the wanderers! Then they would fly high, as wanting to be gone. Should we not fly higher? We, like the swallows, are about to leave this scene below. Already, signs of the world’s judgments begin to flit across its autumn sky. And now every swallow soared, ready to, depart, moved by one common instinct. Oh, that every Christian was seen manifestly ready to depart, moved by the Spirit of God.
But, will it be with the whole church of God as with the swallows? Yes, the Holy Ghost is already gathering in little companies to Christ. He has revealed to them afresh, after many centuries, the Heavenly Bridegroom, and the heavenly calling of the church. He is leading their thoughts and hearts, higher and higher; and soon, very soon, though the world will not see them go, they will go, and not one will be left behind.
“For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
If God, therefore, does not fail to take by instinct at the appointed time, the stork, the crane and the swallow, will He possibly fail at the appointed time to take the saints to meet their Lord? Is it not sad and humbling that the Lord should have to complain, that though the swallow should know her appointed time, “My people know not the judgment of the Lord”? Is not this as true now of Christendom as it was of Israel then? What profound ignorance there is an this important subject. “My people know not.” Men go on dreaming of continual summer, yea, of increasing sunshine, peace and prosperity — just at the very time when the saints are about to be gone like the swallows of autumn, and the storms of this world’s wintry blasts are about to take diem all by surprise. (1 Thess. 5:1-91But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. 2For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 4But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 5Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 6Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. 7For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. 8But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. 9For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, (1 Thessalonians 5:1‑9).)
Never was there a day of more boasting: “We are wise.” It is quite true the Word of God is in men’s hands; but who believes it? The rapture of the church before the day of the Lord is clearly revealed. God has said it, and He has made it perfectly clear, both the departure of His saints to meet the Lord in the air, and the terrible judgments that shall follow. But, although God has spoken to the world in His Word, men will not believe Him, “making the Word of God of none effect through your tradition” (Mark 7:1313Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye. (Mark 7:13)).
Yes, “the wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken; lo, they have rejected the Word of the Lord; and what wisdom is in them?”
And now, beloved reader, as the last days of another year are fast coming to a close, where are you, and what is the condition of your soul? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb, and ready to be gone like the swallows in autumn? Are you following the “wise men” of this world who will so soon be ashamed and confounded? Is Christ the center of attraction? Are you separated to Him, and waiting for Him from heaven? Great is the last effort to draw Christians from Christ to join the confederacies of men. The Word of God is utterly disregarded. On no account will men allow it to be Christ alone. Christ and circumcision, Christ and the world’s various confederacies, or even Christ and profanity. All these things hide the coming of the Lord to take His saints. Every doctrine of human improvement denies the utter ruin of man through sin and the fast approach of divine judgment on the rejecters and despisers of the Word of God. It is solemnly true of the great men and the wise of this world, “they have rejected the Word of the Lord.”
Can you for a moment admit that the instinct of a bird is more sure than the words of the Saviour? As this world’s winter approaches, let us then dwell on the words of Jesus. He cannot fail to fulfill His promises which He has given to us: “In My Father’s House are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go, and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 14:2, 32In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:2‑3).) Do we hear you saying, “Yes; Jesus says so, but our learned, wise teachers do not believe so”? Remember the word, “They have rejected the word of the Lord: and what wisdom is in them?”
It is a solemn fact that God by His Spirit has sent forth the midnight cry, “Behold the Bridegroom — go ye out to meet Him”: and they have rejected the Word of the Lord. God grant we may cease from man: for what wisdom is in him? May we love to dwell on His sweet words of promise. Has He not gone to prepare the place? Oh, those scenes of radiant glory, far away from earth’s cold wintry blasts! And will He not come to take us unto Himself? ASSUREDLY! How soon? “In a moment!” Glorious reality! Blessed comfort! “the Lord knoweth them that are His,” and none shall be left behind.
C.S.