He Came as a Thief in the Night

 "20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers: 21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left" (Isaiah 30:20-21). People willing to be instructed in the application of truths of faith to evils of heart will experience unpleasant trials, bread of adversity being the spirit of burning or the trial by fire or the furnace; and water of affliction being the spirit of judgment or the trial by water or the flood. We may also see the bread of adversity as the purification of gold or the cleaning of the platter on the inside and the out; and we may see the water of affliction as the purification of silver or the cleaning of the cup inside and out. All of these designations have been precisely aligned. "When the Lord shall have washed away t...

Song of Solomon 3:10 - King James Version (KJV) <10> He made the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of purple, the midst thereof being paved with love, for the daughters of Jerusalem. Revelation 21:21 - King James Version (KJV) <21> And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. This is mentioned in passing to show the ways in which the stones of the temple stand upon one another perfectly in the repaired breach. For the gold is the good of love and the silver the truths of faith, and the bottom thereof must be paved with gold, with the good of love. "Let thy head lack no ointment' : Let thy spiritual knowledge lack not love of God and the neighbor, the good of love, in practice in your life : Let not your lamp lack for oil. Exodus 16:23 - King James Version (KJV) <23> And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord ...