In Luke 21 the Lord Jesus told us to take heed to ourselves lest our heart be weighed down and that day will come as a snare upon us suddenly, and also to be watchful and beseech that we would prevail to escape the great tribulation and stand before the Son of Man.
Our aspiration is that we would participate in the rapture of the overcomers; for this, we need to overcome the stupefying effect of man’s living today.
Men today go about their business, do their thing, and are stupefied, drugged, by what the world has to offer them so that they do not realize that judgment is coming, and that day will come upon them as a surprise.
But we as believers in Christ have been given some warnings and exhortations both by the Lord Jesus and by the apostles so that we may not live like the rest but rather, we would prevail to overcome, and we would be raptured before the great tribulation comes.
To be raptured is an exceedingly joyful matter; however, this is not something that will happen unexpectedly for those who are watchful and beseech that they would prevail to escape, but it will be quite normal.
Those around us live in a stupefied way; they are so busy with this and that, and even during the lockdown due to the pandemic, they are still busy doing this and that, watching this and that, and being involved in this and that.
People are eating, drinking, marrying, giving in marriage, and they have no idea that the day of judgment will come.
But we need to take heed to ourselves, lest our heart also would be weighed down with the things of this world and the anxieties of life; we need to reject our soul-life and seek the Lord, delight ourselves in Him, and have Him as our unique satisfaction.
We need to not preserve our soul-life but rather, refuse to linger in the earthly and material things and set our mind on the things which are above, where Christ is!
As believers in Christ, we are heavenly people; we are citizens of a heavenly kingdom, our country is not here but in the heavens, our portion is not in this age but in the next age, and our desire is to bring the Lord back and be His co-kings in the millennium age, the one thousand year kingdom reign. Oh, Lord Jesus!
May we cooperate with the Lord to have Him as our treasure, our real satisfaction, and our everything, so that in that day we may simply take another step and go into His presence when He returns!
Being Watchful and Beseeching that we Prevail to Escape the Hour of Trial and be Raptured!
Speaking of His second coming, the Lord never gave us any assurance that we will all be raptured when He returns, no matter what; rather, He told us to take heed to ourselves lest perhaps our hearts be weighed down with debauchery and drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day come upon us suddenly as a snare (Luke 21:34).
This means that, as we await the Lord’s coming, our heart may be weighed down with the enjoyment of the things of this world, eating and drinking, and the anxieties of life, and when this happens, we will be surprised when the Lord comes, for we are not prepared.
So we need to take heed to ourselves and keep our heart pure and single for the Lord, loving Him and enjoying Him, and being free from any other preoccupying thing of this world. We need to be watchful at every time, beseeching that we would prevail to escape all these things which are about to happen and stand before the Son of Man (Luke 21:36).
The Lord Jesus didn’t assure us that everything will be alright, that we will never have to go through the great tribulation, and that as long as we believe into Him, we will be saved from suffering, trials, and persecutions.
Rather, He clearly told us to be watchful in life and beseech the Lord that we would prevail to escape the hour of trial, the great tribulation, which will come upon all mankind (Matt. 24:21).
The great tribulation will be a severe trial upon the whole inhabited earth, for at that time God will judge the earth and the heavens, and His judgments will make the earth a place that is not pleasant to live.
So we need to be watchful and beseeching to prevail to escape the hour of trial, and we would be taken before the great tribulation to be with the Son of Man (Rev. 14:1).
The raptured overcomers will stand before the Savior on Mount Zion in the heavens before the great tribulation, as indicated by Rev. 12:5-6 and 14; we need to aspire to be those who overcome today so that we may be taken by the Lord before the hour of trial comes upon all the earth.
Instead of being stupefied or drugged by the world today, instead of having our hearts weighed down with the anxieties of life, we need to be watchful and vigilant.
Furthermore, we need to beseech the Lord, that is, pray in a specific way that we would prevail to escape the hour of trial.
The Lord taught us to pray in a general way for the fulfillment of God’s will when He spoke what is called “the Lord’s prayer”; here, however, He taught us not just to pray but to beseech that we prevail to escape the great tribulation.
We shouldn’t be caught in the trend of today’s world but be watchful and beseech to escape the hour of trial.
We need to escape the trend in today’s world by being watchful and beseeching the Lord; the strength and ability to escape come from being watchful and from beseeching.
If we are watchful for the Lord’s return by spending time with Him and unloading everything of our heart before Him, and if we are beseeching the Lord to prevail to escape the hour of trial, we will be strengthened and prepared to be those who overcome, and we will prevail to escape! Amen!
This is what the Lord promises to the church in Philadelphia in Rev. 3:10, that He would keep us out of the hour of trial, which is about to come on the whole inhabited earth, to try them who dwell on the earth.
Amen, on His side He keeps us, and on our side, we are watchful and beseeching to prevail to escape the hour of trial; in this way, by our cooperation with the Lord in this way, He has a way to produce us as His overcomers and take us to Himself before the great tribulation begins.
Lord Jesus, may we take heed to ourselves lest perhaps our hearts be weighed down with debauchery and drunkenness and the anxieties of this life, and that day come upon us suddenly as a snare. Oh Lord, we turn our heart to You: unload us and empty us of anything that is not You, and fill us with Yourself as the living, true, and overcoming One! Amen, Lord, we want to be watchful at every time, beseeching that we would prevail to escape the hour of trial and stand before the Son of Man! May we have the strength and ability to escape the great tribulation by watching and beseeching! May we be watchful in life and beseeching You to prevail to escape all these things that will happen! Keep us, Lord, out of the hour of trial, and rapture us before it comes!
Being Raptured before the Great Tribulation and being taken away to Meet Christ on the Throne depends on us
The people in the world today are as in the days of Noah – eating, drinking, building, marrying, giving in marriage, and doing all kinds of things; little do they know that the Lord is coming, and judgment is imminent.
It is as in the days of Lot: immorality is everywhere, violence is prevalent, man rebels against God and against their very human nature, and “anything goes” in society today.
Not only in the world, but also in Christianity there’s a large number of genuine believers in Christ who are “stupefied” and “drugged” with such things as “the prosperity gospel”, and in particular as it relates to the Lord’s coming, so many believe that they will just be raptured as He returns.
It is true that the Lord will rapture all His believers, but there’s a difference between being raptured by Him as a reward before the great tribulation and being raptured with the majority of the believers after the great tribulation.
Both in the gospels and in the epistles and in the book of Revelation we see that there will be a great tribulation at the consummation of this age; this is the hour of trial which will come upon the whole inhabited earth.
At that time the earth will become uninhabitable, for God will judge it with all kinds of supernatural things, and men will continue to rebel against God until they will gather together at Armageddon, led by Antichrist, to fight against God directly.
We do not want to be on earth at that time, especially if we love the Lord and have His life.
The Lord HImself did not promise that He will take us before the hour of trial; rather, He said that we would be watchful and beseeching that we prevail to escape the hour of trial, the great tribulation.
This means that we need to be watchful in life and beseech the Lord specifically that He would cause us to escape the hour of trial!
May we take heed to ourselves, live a watchful life, lose our soul-life, take up our cross, and deny ourselves as we follow the Lord!
Many things will happen on earth during the great tribulation, and we want to not be here when these things happen; our aspiration is to stand before the Son of Man as overcomers when He returns (Rev. 14:1).
Don’t we want to stand before the Son of Man in that day, part of the one hundred forty-four thousand, being the overcomers raptured before the great tribulation?
Whether or not we shall be raptured before the great tribulation and be taken away to meet Christ on the throne doesn’t depend on the Lord; rather, it depends on us.
We need to be watchful and pray in a particular way, constantly beseeching the Lord that we prevail to escape the great tribulation. Amen, Lord Jesus!
Without a doubt, when we stand before the Son of Man on Mount Zion, we will be beside ourselves with joy in the Lord!
Lord Jesus, we want to be those watchful in life to be prepared for Your return. Amen, Lord, we beseech You that we escape the hour of trial, the great tribulation! Make us those watchful and beseeching, not being weighed down by the things of this world or the anxieties of this life but focusing on You and awaiting Your return! Amen! We want to take heed to ourselves, live a watchful life, and follow You in this age, beseeching to escape the great tribulation and be taken into Your presence to enjoy You and be part of Your bridal army! Amen, Lord Jesus, we love You and we love Your appearing; we aspire to be Your overcomers who are raptured before the great tribulation to be with You on Mount Zion and return with You to end this age!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Luke, pp. 414-417 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Christian Life, the Church Life, the Consummation of the Age, and the Coming of the Lord (2020 fall ITERO), week 3, The Losing of the soul-life, Participating in the Rapture of the Overcomers, and Receiving the End of our Faith – the Salvation of the Soul.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Soon our Lord will come, the day is drawing nigh, / Sound of His approaching we can hear. / Watchful we must be and always on alert / That the Lord our hearts with rapture cheer. (Hymns #956)
– In that day I will testify / That nothing with Christ’s life can vie, / What glorious rapture to the sky, / O praise the Lord! / O praise the Lord! O praise the Lord! / What glorious rapture to the sky, / O praise the Lord! (Hymns #965)
– The Lord Himself shall come, and we shall be with Him— / Oh, what a glorious hope! Come quickly, Lord, Amen. / We’d ever watchful be to see Thee in the air / And as sons of the day for that meeting prepare. (Hymns #1305)
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