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To be taken by the Lord, we need to be those who are watchful for His imminent coming and prepared and ready to be His bride (Matt. 24:32-44; Rev. 19:7) so that we may be raptured before the great tribulation (3:10; Luke 21:36):
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The meaning of rapture is to be taken into the Lord’s presence; if we would be taken into the Lord’s presence, we must be in His presence today — 2 Cor. 2:10; Psa. 16:11; 27:8; 43:4; Acts 3:19-20; Exo. 33:14-16; cf. Gen. 4:16.
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In order to be those who love the Lord’s appearing, His coming back, we must treasure His appearing, His manifestation, to us today — 2 Tim. 4:8; Acts 26:16; John 14:21.
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The one who is taken is mature in life, and the other is not; to become mature is a lifelong matter; for the Lord’s coming, we need to prepare ourselves by loving Him to the uttermost and by growing up into Him in all things so that, at His appearing, we may be matured to be raptured — Heb. 6:1; John 21:15-17; Eph. 4:15; cf. Gen. 5:22-24.
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Being ready to be raptured is a matter of being filled with Christ to the uttermost by praying that we may grow and mature in life — Eph. 3:16-17a; Hymns, #395.
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The meaning of being watchful is to be careful, not careless, every day on the alert against the possibility of stumbling; those who watch must be those who do not trust in themselves and are not self-confident — Jer. 17:7-8; 2 Cor. 1:8-9; Phil. 3:3; 1 Cor. 10:12.
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The Lord will come secretly, as a thief (Matt. 24:43-44), to those who love Him and will take them away as His treasures; Christ is the preciousness to His believers (1 Pet. 2:7), and our desire is for Him to fill us and saturate us with Himself as our supreme preciousness, our treasure (2 Cor. 4:7), so that we become men of preciousness, even preciousness itself (Dan. 9:23; 10:11, 19).
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Especially in these last days, we need to be watchful and give heed to the prophetic word as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in our hearts (2 Pet. 1:19); in the few remaining days that we have, let us be those who love and serve the Lord, who are revived and overcoming every day, and who let the world go in order to be ready and waiting with all our heart for the Lord’s second coming.
Morning Nourishment
Matt. 24:44 For this reason you also be ready, because at an hour when you do not expect it, the Son of Man is coming.Rev. 3:10 Because you have kept the word of My endurance, I also will keep you out of the hour of trial, which is about to come on the whole inhabited earth, to try them who dwell on the earth.
[Matthew 24:40 and 41] indicate that while the worldly people are befuddled by the material things, with no sense of the coming judgment, some of the sober and watchful believers will be taken away. To the befuddled people, this should be a sign of Christ’s coming.
The two men in verse 40 must be brothers in Christ, and the two women in verse 41 must be sisters in the Lord. This is indicated by verse 42, which tells us to watch because we do not know on what day our Lord comes. Both “watch therefore” and “your Lord” prove that the two men and the two women in verses 40 and 41 are believers. The Lord would not charge unsaved people to watch, nor is He the Lord of the unsaved. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 737-738)
Today’s Reading
To be taken means to be raptured before the great tribulation [Matt. 24:40-41]. This rapture is a sign of the Lord’s coming and a sign to the Jews. It is very interesting to see that the two men are working in the field and that the two women are grinding at the mill. Both working in the field and grinding are for eating. There is a difference between our eating and the eating of the worldly people. The worldly people study and work, and we also study and work. The worldly people, however, have been drugged. But we... rather... are simply fulfilling our duty to make a living….We maintain our existence in order to take the way of the cross to fulfill God’s purpose.As we wait for His coming and expect to be raptured, we must be very faithful in our daily duties…. It is the brothers working in the field and the sisters grinding in the mill who will be raptured. As those with a fallen human nature, it is easy for us to excuse ourselves for not spending so much time in the field or at the grinding. If you do this, you will not be raptured.
Of the two men in the field, one is taken and the other is left; and of the two women grinding at the mill, one is taken and the other left. The reason for this is that there is a difference between them in the matter of life. I believe that the one taken is mature and that the one left is immature. The life makes the difference. The rapture of the overcomers, those who are mature in life, will be a sign to those who are left.
In Matthew 24:42 the Lord tells us to watch, for we do not know on what day the Lord will come….[In verse 43] the householder refers to the believer, and the house, to the believer’s conduct and work which he has built up in his Christian life. A thief comes to steal precious things at an unknown time. The Lord will come secretly as a thief to those who love Him and will take them away as His treasures. Hence, we should watch…. [Verse 44] refers to the Lord’s secret coming to the watchful overcomers. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 738-741)
We need to give heed to the prophetic word as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in our hearts (2 Pet. 1:19; Rev. 22:16; 2:28). Preceding the Lord’s open coming, the Lord will appear as the morning star in the darkest hour of the night to those who are watchful and looking for His appearing (2 Tim. 4:8). They have been enlightened by the shining of the prophetic word, which is able to lead them to the dawning day and to the rising of the morning star in their hearts. (CWWL, 1990, vol. 3, “The Prophecy of the Four ‘Sevens’ in the Bible,” pp. 14-15)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1990, vol. 3, “The Prophecy of the Four ‘Sevens’ in the Bible,” chs. 1, 5-6; CWWN, vol. 15, chs. 24-25; CWWN, vol. 23, “The Song of Songs,” pp. 117-119