24:37     But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

24:38    For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

24:39    And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

24:40    Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

24:41    Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

24:42    Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

And a cross reference in Luke:

17:26     And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.

17:27    They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

17:28    Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;

17:29    But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

17:30    Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

17:34     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.

17:35    Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

17:36    Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

Here in these references we see that there is a separation among the living; the dead cannot be grinding together, for instance. Those who are taken are the same as those whom the flood took away, those who did not endure until the end and rejected the messages of God, the wicked.

The disciples then asked (Luke17:37): “And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord?” And the answer was, “And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.” And where do the eagles gather? Matthew 24:28: “For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.” So, we see that those who are taken are taken to their deaths while the righteous live on.

Let us now turn to Matthew 13:

13:24     Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:

13:25    But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.

13:26    But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

13:27    So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?

13:28    He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?

13:29    But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

13:30    Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

13:36     Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.

13:37    He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;

13:38    The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;

13:39    The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

13:40    As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.

13:41    The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;

13:42    And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

13:43    Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

13:49     So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,

13:50    And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Here we see that there are two types of people in God’s church, wheat and tares. The wheat are the children of the kingdom and the tares are the children of the wicked one (vs. 38). The enemy sowed the tares into the church (vs. 27), and they are allowed to grow together until, or up to, the harvest (vs. 30), at which time the angels will be sent forth to gather out the tares (vs. 39-42, 49). The tares will not be in the church during the harvest. The harvest is a period of time where one, who is outside of the church, can be saved (see Jer. 8:20). As with the natural world, the time of harvest is when the greatest amount of grain is brought in; it is the time of the Loud Cry of Rev. 18. After the harvest probation closes for the world, where Amos 8:11, 12 will be fulfilled.

Let us now turn to Isaiah 66:

66:15     For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.

66:16    For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.

66:17    They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.

66:18    For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.

66:19    And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles.

66:20    And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD.

Here we see that the Lord is angry, and that He is to slay many (vs. 15 & 16). Those who are slain are the disobedient who do not wholly follow the Lord (vs. 17). Those who escape (vs. 19) are sent unto the nations and “shall bring all your brethren” into God’s last day church (vs. 20). The Gospel work shall be finished, and all who are to be saved will be brought in.

So now it is clear that after God performs the separation within His church, those who escape and survive the Judgment for the Living in His church, will be sent to the nations to give the last message of mercy to a dying world. So who are these that are first to be harvested? Let us turn to Revelation 14.

14:1        And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.

14:2       And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:

14:3       And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.

14:4       These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

14:5       And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.

The 144,000 are the first fruits; if there is a first, there must also be a second. Who comes after them? Rev. 7:9: “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues...” – the second fruits.

We may begin to put these pieces together: the 144,000 are the ones who are left, not taken. They are the wheat without tares in their midst. The escaped ones, the 144,000, are sent to all nations to gather in the great harvest, the second fruits (the great multitude which no man can number).

So now the question comes: How do you survive, how to make sure you are not taken? Let us read Revelation 7:1-4:

7:1          And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.

7:2         And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,

7:3         Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

7:4         And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

Here we see that the 144,000 receive a seal, which implies there are those who do not receive the seal. To explain this we need to turn to the 9th chapter of Ezekiel.

9:1          He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.

9:2         And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brazen altar.

9:3         And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his side;

9:4         And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.

9:5         And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:

9:6         Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.

9:7         And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.

9:8         And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?

9:9         Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not.

9:10       And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.

9:11       And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me.

Only those who “sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof”, the church, will receive the seal. To “sigh” means simply to reform in your own life, while to “cry” means to warn your brothers and sisters in the church to be ready, for their cases are soon to come up for review. Those who refuse to heed the Judgment of the Living message, who fail to reform, will be left without the seal, will be taken and will perish. This event is yet future and little time remains.

Get ready, get ready, get ready!

GET READY! GET READY! GET READY!

Bible Study

Important considerations should be made in order to be ready for what is soon to come to pass within God’s last-day church.

All who accept Christ have their names inscribed in the Lamb’s Book of Life, but not all endure to the end (Matt. 24:13; Exodus 32:33), and the process by which cases are decided is known as the Investigative Judgment or Cleansing of the Sanctuary. Since the fulfillment of Daniel 8:14 this separation has been taking place among the dead in God’s church, beginning with those who first lived. As this process cannot go on forever, the time will come when all the cases that remain to be decided in the books will be the living members of the church. Just as God warned of the fulfillment of Daniel 8:14 in its first phase, a message must now be given warning of the second phase of this work, the Judgment for the Living. What do the Scriptures say about this coming separation? Let us turn to Matthew 24: