We know from the Scripture that the wheat and the tares will grow side by side until the end of the present age (Matthew 13:30).

The purpose of the return of the Lord from Heaven is to separate the righteous from the wicked.

Daniel 11:34 states that the elect "shall be holpen with a little help." Blessed is the individual who treats God's elect in a kindly manner during the hour of their affliction. That person will not lose his or her reward.

Whoever gives one of God's saints, His witnesses, a cup of water, understanding that he or she is one of Jesus' disciples, will be rewarded richly in the Day of the Lord. Everyone who assists the saints during the reign of Antichrist will be rewarded by the King of kings, Jesus Christ.

And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed. (Daniel 11:35)

This will be a time of purifying the members of the Bride ("to make them white"). The elect who are on the earth when the Lord Jesus returns will participate in the stupendous joy of translation, of being changed from mortality into immortality at His appearing.

The Lord Jesus will receive a Bride who is without spot, or wrinkle, or blemish of any kind whatever. The atoning blood of the Lamb takes the spots out of our wedding garment. The hot iron of tribulation presses and removes the wrinkles. The sanctifying oils and perfumes will remove the blemishes.

Everything that comes upon the saint will bring him or her into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ and into union with Christ, if the disciple will maintain a steady trust in the Lord and endure patiently to the end of his suffering and testing.

Meanwhile, we should be praying that we shall be able to stand in the evil day soon to come to pass on the earth.

Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. (Luke 21:36)

The several translators of the Scriptures appear to disagree somewhat on the text of Luke 21:36. Some stress the concept of our attaining worthiness to escape the spiritual danger present in the sufferings and snares of the last days, while others emphasize the idea of our gaining sufficient strength to stand and not fail Christ in that hour.

When we take into consideration all that the Scriptures teach concerning the need for prayer and diligence during our sojourn in this world, we come to the conclusion that the wise disciple never relaxes his vigilance. He watches in prayer constantly. He "laps the water, putting his hand to his mouth" (Judges 7:6). He does not allow himself to be placed in a position where he can be overcome easily by the enemy (by putting his mouth down to the water—speaking of those in the last days who rejoice in spiritual gifts but are not careful to watch for the enemy).

To be continued.