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show more clearly than here that the "man child" does not refer to the birth and ascension
of Christ. Rev. 2: 26, 27 gives a clue:--
"He that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give authority
over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron."
The instruction of this authority takes place when the man child is caught up "to God
and His throne," for
"To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also
overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne" (Rev. 3: 21).
The words of Rev. 3: 3, 4 are also related to the same time and event:--
"If I therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not
know what hour I will come upon thee . . . . . Thou hast few names . . . . . they are
worthy."
The words of Luke 21: 36 seem to refer to the same time and people:--
"Watch ye and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape those things
that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."
While the hope and the reward of the various bodies or callings of believers differ,
there is unity of principle regarding them that it is well for us to observe. I Thess. 4:
speaks of the same period as Matt. 24:, and I Thess. 5: equally warns against being
found sleeping (Mark 13: 35), and speaks of the coming as like a thief in the night. We
cannot shut our eyes to the conditions that are attached to the participation in the reward
aspect of the believer's service (which is the aspect of Matt. 24: and 25:).
Matt. 24: 42, Luke 21: 36 and Rev. 3: 3, "Watch therefore," or as in the case of the
householders, and virgins, "readiness" is the word. By confounding the hope with the
prize, either of the church, or the heavenly calling, or of Israel, a great deal of wrong
teaching has arisen. One system maintains that by reason of grace all believers will of
necessity escape the great tribulation, others who see a line of teaching urging
watchfulness, readiness, and being accounted worthy, etc., say that some only will
escape. These subjects are too great to be decided upon in these articles, they demand a
separate study.
It is important however to note that the parables that follow in Matt. 25: emphasize
the need of "readiness" (verse 10), "faithfulness" (verse 21), and "kindness" (verse 40)
as a prerequisite for entering the marriage feast, for being made ruler over many things,
and for entering into the kingdom. These varying degrees and aspects are summed up in
the word "taken" (Matt. 24: 40), and in the appointment of verse 47. The sad
alternatives, outside the marriage feast, outer darkness, and eonian fire, are summed up in
the word "left" (Matt. 24: 40), and in the appointment of verse 51.
The hope and prize of the One Body (Eph. 1: and Phil. 3:) are nowhere in view in
Matt. 24: or 25: Nevertheless, we do well to take heed to the words, "What I say unto
you I say unto all, Watch."