“I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left”―Luke 17:34-36.
THE Lord Jesus spoke often of His coming again. He told of His coming in judgment at the end of the age, to deal with unrighteousness and to bring in the long-looked-for kingdom of God upon earth. To His disciples He spoke of His return as something for which they were to watch. It would come suddenly, unexpectedly, to those who were not looking for it. Those counted worthy to stand before the Son of Man will be His own redeemed ones. They will be caught away to Himself, as later revealed through the ministry of the apostle Paul. That blessed event is dateless. It may take place at any time.
“What if, some day when you and I are standing.
Watching the fitful lightning in the sky,
Hearing the muttered threat of distant thunder,
Knowing humanity’s dread hour is nigh,
What if a sudden thrill should quiver through our being,
Not the death pang that ends all mortal strife,
But, in a quickening surge of swift ecstatic power,
“Mortality be swallowed up of life!”
O Blessed Hope that looks beyond the shadows,
That is not troubled by this world’s alarms;
That knows The Life and sees a Transformation,
That waits the welcome of His outstretched arms!”
―W. C. E.