of the
parable of our Lord.

But what is indicated by these words? You noticed we left out the word
"cometh." The authorized version reads, "Behold the Bridegroom
cometh." The revised version has left out the word "cometh" and that
is the right way to read it, "Behold the Bridegroom! Go ye forth to
meet Him." This tells us that the midnight cry is more than a mere
announcement of the coming of the Lord. It is, of course, indicated,
but the Holy Spirit in the midnight cry calls attention to the person
of the Bridegroom. He unfolds His glorious person anew and brings out
the fact that His church, whom He has loved, is His Bride and that He
is the Bridegroom. And along with this message of the Bridegroom there
is a call to go forth to meet Him. What else is it than a call to the
original position? It demands a return to that as it was in the
beginning. It is a call to separation from all that is false and
unscriptural. How can any one, or how could any one honestly believe
that that adorable Person, the Bridegroom, is near, soon Coming,
without turning away from all that is displeasing to Him, without
turning the back upon all which dishonors both His Person and His Word?
This then is the significant meaning of the midnight cry. Exactly this
took place and still takes place in out present day. Along with the
revival of the blessed Hope, the preaching of His imminent Coming, we
have a return to other great truths, such as the teaching concerning
the church. Just as the giving up of the blessed Hope affected the
other great doctrines of the Bible and became in part responsible for
the fearful decline, confusion and departure from the faith once and
for all delivered unto the saints, so the recovery of the blessed Hope,
the imminent Coming of the Lord, results in the recovery of these same
blessed doctrines which were given up and leads to a return to the true
position. All this has come to pass. All is still coming to pass.
The midnight cry, "Behold the Bridegroom, go ye forth to meet Him,"
stands in closest connection with the church message to Philadelphia,
in the third chapter of Revelation. There the _person_ of Christ, as
the Holy One and the True One, is in the foreground. Once more a
company of His people at the very last days are keeping His Word and
are not denying His name as well as keeping the Word of His patience,
which has reference to His Coming, and to His Philadelphia remnant He
gives th