In Luke 17, the Pharisees questioned the Lord as to when the kingdom of God would appear. The Lord said to them only that “the kingdom of God is in Your midst” (v. 21). However, just after that, He turned to the disciples and gave them a word about His second coming, stating that it would be “as it was in the days of Noah” and “as it was in the days of Lot” (vv. 26-29). He then gave them a very cryptic warning:

Remember Lot’s wife!
— Luke 17:32

Next, He repeats the admonition He had given the disciples after Peter tried to prevent Him from going to the cross, about the need to lose our “life,” or our “soul” (it is the same word in Greek), for His sake in this age, so we may gain it in the next (Matt. 16:25, Mark 9:35, Luke 9:24; see “The Salvation of the Soul” • 4). That is, He says, once again,

Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it.
— Luke 17:33

In the previous instance, however, He had gone on to speak in a general way of His judgment upon the believers at His return (cf. 2 Cor. 5:10). This time, He instead speaks very specifically of what we may call “the rapture of reward,” that is, the rapture of the faithful believers prior to the Great Tribulation:

I tell you, In that night there will be two in one bed; the one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding together; the one will be taken and the other left. Two men will be in the field; the one will be taken and the other left.
— Luke 17:34-36

The Lord is saying here that, if we desire to be those who are “taken” to be with Him prior to the Great Tribulation, we must be willing to lose our soul in this age. Otherwise, because we chose instead to love the world, we will need to remain on the earth during that terrible time, so that we may see the world for what it truly is and thus learn to love it no longer.

Watchman Nee says of this passage:

He who has saved his soul in this age shall be left behind at the coming of the Son of Man, while he who has lost his soul in this stage shall be taken at the coming of the Son of Man. There does not appear to be any difference between the two persons, neither in work nor in place; yet in rapture, there does come a difference! In a twinkling, what a vast difference!

A most serious problem is presented here. If we wish to be raptured, to see the Lord, and to enter the kingdom, we must first lose our souls in this age. For the sake of the Lord, we must forsake the world, forsake all which is not in accordance with the will of God, forsake all which will entangle us, and forsake all that would hinder our hearts from thinking on the things above. Should we be like Lot’s wife, trying to preserve the soul and unwilling to forsake anything, we will not be taken up to where the Lord ordains us to be, even though we may not perish in Sodom and Gomorrah with the sinners. There may be no difference in eternal life, but there will be a difference in rapture.

— The Salvation of the Soul; Christian Fellowship Publishers, New York, 1978, pages 15-16, in the chapter, “Its Meaning: Self-Denial.”

So here again we see that, at the end of this age, the Lord certainly will make a clear, and very serious, distinction between those who have followed Him faithfully and those who have not. So, may we tell Him today,

Lord, make us willing to lose our all in this age, so we will be ready to meet You at Your return!

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— 25 July 2026 —