A Message from the Lord

“Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” (Rev 18:4)

This is the lesson of the eagle. The returned Lord has promised a great spiritual feast of truth, yet most Christians (the Lord’s true people, howbeit mere “babes in Christ”) are in Babylon when he returns. Just as the eagle can see food far away and travels a great distance to secure it, so faithful Christians will discern the lack of spiritual food in Babylon and will leave. They must flee Babylon (Jer. 51:6) in order to enjoy the spiritual feast from the returned Lord.

This is why we see so many confused individuals in the nominal systems  they are blown about by every wind of doctrine in the vain pursuit of truth. The problem is there is no truth in Babylon, what exists is but the “husks” the barest “scraps” of truth which has been mixed with error in order to make it palatable, and whereas this may suffice for the mere nominal believer it is insufficient for those truly hungering and thirsting for truth, the Lord’s true begotten people.

The confirmation of applying Rev 18:1-5 to the beginning period of Christ’s presence, during which the living saints (as each dies having faithfully completed their consecration) are gradually caught up to the Lord, is found in Revelation 14. The time element and message of Rev 14:8 is exactly the same as Rev 18:2. “And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”

It is during the period of this proclamation of the fall of Babylon from favor that we are given our “henceforth” period of Revelation 14:13, “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth.” We have already seen that Rev 14:13 proves the individual resurrection of the living church over a period of time.

The synchronizing of the time element of Rev 18:1-5 and Rev 14 is further proof that when our Lord returns there is a gradual resurrection of the living church, not an instantaneous gathering to Christ as some suppose.

The lesson of Luke 17:34-37 is important to all Christians now living during our Lord’s presence. The eagles of Verse 37 are symbolic of faithful Christians. The bed, mill and field of Verses 34 through 26 are also symbolic. They represent different spiritual conditions in the nominal churches. The ones in the mill, the field, and the bed who are taken represent faithful Christians. When the Lord returns, He will call his people out of Babylon. He will attract them as eagles are attracted by food for which they have a keenness of vision and appetite. The watching and worthy are taken, that is, they leave Babylon, and the others are left to experience the plagues that destroy Babylon.

The food of “present truth” now provided by our present Lord is having its intended effect of gathering his saints by and to it. It is NOT the gathering by one man or many men unto themselves or into a new denomination, but a gathering unto Christ himself, the true and only Master and Teacher.

A Further Proof

A further proof that the one in the bed, the one in the mill and the one in the field (Luke 17:34-36) do not picture the living church being caught up (or raptured) to heaven is found in Verses 30-33 of Luke 17.

“Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away and he this is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.”

If, as some feel, the living Christians are taken in rapture instantaneously then those who are taken have no time to make a choice or do anything else. This is contrary to Verses 30 to 33, which state that when the Son of man is revealed, the one in the field has the choice of turning back and the one upon the housetop can decide to go down into the house to take his belongings. These verses harmonize with Luke 17:34- 37, where, like the eagles, the one in the bed, the mill and the field are gathered to a feast.

When the Lord returns and calls his people out of Babylon (the nominal churches), those on the housetops (Christians with a higher degree of spirituality) should leave immediately without taking any Babylon’s encumbrances with them, and even when the flight from Babylon has begun, none should turn back as did Lot’s wife, Verse 32.

Verse 33 further confirms that these verses refer to a condition of separation here on earth. Notice it is after one is taken that he still has the choice to turn back. After the gathering begins, his course of action will determine whether he loses or saves his life.

From the foregoing scriptures discussed in this chapter, it becomes evident that the instantaneous change and resurrection of both the living and dead in Christ at the moment of his return, is not a Scriptural concept. 1 Cor 15:50, 51 and 1 Thess 4:16, 17 reveal that all faithful Christians who die before the Second Advent will be raised together (collectively as one group) to be with their Lord at his return. From that time onward, Rev 14:13 reveals that members of the living church on earth (“we who are alive and remain” at or during the Lord’s parousia) will be caught up individually to their returned Lord as they complete their course on earth.” (Excerpts taken from the booklet, “I Will Come Again” edited)