LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
Spirit of Rapture
"And ye shall be like unto men that wait for their lord to return from the marriage feast, that, when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately" (Luke 12:36).
The Lord Jesus taught that it was necessary to be attentive to the signs of His coming in order to be prepared. However, the emphasis in Christianity has been to know the signs, but not always to be prepared, but as a mere intellectual exercise, as a mere doctrinal curiosity.
Stephen Kaung warns in one of his books: "Many prophecies related to His second coming are taught and known throughout the Christian world, as if all of God's people were awaiting His coming. The message about the Lord's second coming is probably one of the most popular topics in Christian circles. Unfortunately, the reality is that very few are actually awaiting His coming. Very few, very few, are actually preparing the way for his coming".
The desirable attitude before the coming of the Lord is that of the bride awaiting the Bridegroom. This figure alone, applied on a merely human plane, shows us the expectation and longing, the beating of the heart, the nervous and joyful waiting of the beloved for her beloved. However, on the spiritual plane, it seems that we are very far from it. Surely the Lord suffers to see the attitude of his beloved, for whom he gave his life, who with such indifference and mere curiosity speaks of his coming, but without fervently desiring it. How, then, could he hasten his coming if he feels that he is not being longed for sufficiently by her?
Compromise with the world, eagerness for visible things, adultery of the heart; all these have troubled the bride, so that she is not able to feel the pure affections of the happy lover. But there are the faithful who show us the other way, the right and true way.
It is said of Margaret Barber that every day, at sunset, and every year's end, when all the world was filled with merriment, she claimed to the Lord why He had not yet come. In the same way, her young disciple Watchman Nee, lived and wrote about the "spirit of rapture". Furthermore, he said that the loss of this expectation was one of Satan's objectives in spiritual warfare.
In his poem "From Bethany", by Watchman Nee, we find a beautiful expression of this "spirit of rapture":
From Bethany, in your departure,
immense nostalgia flooded my being;
I would no longer like to play my harp,
how can I do it, if you are not here?
In the dark night of my solitude,
in peace I think only of you,
time has passed, and you are far away,
but you promised to return.
Remember your promise, O beloved,
come quickly, draw me to you;
so many days and years have passed,
tired I am, remember me.
Your footsteps I feel so distant,
how much time is yet to pass?
My voice rises to you from the night:
Do not delay, come and take me, Lord!