LIVING ON ALERT STATUS

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on December 15, 2021 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: December 15, 2021 from Luke 21:29-36

Theme: The unexpected time of the Lord’s return means that we must keep always on the alert.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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For many of us, Bible prophecy and the study of end-times events is a fascinating subject. The thought of the Lord’s soon return, and the promise of His glorious reign, thrill us with hope and excitement.

That has been the subject we have been considering in Luke 21. It all began when we read what the Lord Jesus had told His disciples as He sat on the Mount of Olives with them and looked off in the distance at the beautiful stones of the temple. He told them; “These things which you see—the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down” (Luke 21:6). And when they asked, “Teacher, but when will these things be? And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?” (v. 7); the answer He gave carried them from the events of their own time far into the future—all the way up to the promise of His second coming. What an amazing chapter of the Bible this is!

As we saw, at first, He explained the condition of things before the temple would be destroyed. That’s what He talked about in verses 8-19. Then, He answered their question concerning the destruction of the temple—an event that finally occurred in 70 A.D. That’s what we find in verses 20-24. But then, He told them about the events that would occur at some time in the distant future—the events that would serve as the immediate signs of His second coming. That’s what we find in verses 25-28. He said;

“And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near” (Luke 21:25-28).

Their hearts must have been captivated by the mystery of the nature of those strange signs; and also thrilled with excitement at the thought of Jesus’ victorious return. Our hearts are affected in the same way. But it’s important to note that our Lord didn’t tell them these things simply in order to fascinate them and thrill them and satisfy their desire to know mysterious and wonderful things. He told them to all His followers in order to make sure that they would be ready—and would not be caught by surprise along with the rest of the unbelieving world. We go on to read in verses 29-36;

Then He spoke to them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:29-36).

This teaches us that the unexpected nature of the time of our Lord’s return means that we must keep always on the alert.

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The Lord Jesus told us that the unbelieving world will not be watching for His return. The events of that time would catch them by surprise. He put it this way in Matthew 24:36-4;

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left” (Matthew 24:36-41).

And you and I may read those words and think to ourselves, “How sad that the people of this world will not have made themselves ready! Hadn’t the Lord Jesus’ warnings about those times been known, and read, and printed, and preached for two thousand years? How could they not have known? How could they have been caught by surprise like that?” But our Lord’s warning was not given to the people of this world. Rather, it was given to His own followers. In verses 42-44, He went on to say to His disciples;

“Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (vv. 42-44).

The Lord’s return is going to catch everyone by surprise—and this may include some of us who are His followers! And if we simply relish the fascination of the study of end-times events, but fail to truly do what our Lord says about keeping on the alert, then we will be among those who are caught unprepared—and in such a way as to suffer loss.

So; the value of the words that we find in Luke 21:29-36 is that they give us the Lord’s own serious warning about keeping on the watch—and living in ‘alert status’ in the light of His return.

Notice first how the Lord Jesus gave us …

1. A PARABLE ABOUT THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE TIMES (vv. 29-33).

In verse 29, Luke wrote; “Then He spoke to them a parable …” The word ‘parable’ basically means to ‘throw down with’. It was a teaching device that our Lord often used. He would take a very common everyday thing from life, and ‘throw it down with’ an important spiritual truth so that we could compare them and see how one thing is like another. In this case, He ‘threw down’ a spiritual truth ‘with’ the common sight of how trees show forth their buds at certain times of the year. He said in verses 29-30, “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near.”

There have been many Bible teachers who have pointed out that the fig tree was often used as a symbol by the Jewish people of the nation of Israel. Do you remember how when Jesus came into the city in His triumphant entry, He cursed the fig tree and it withered? This may have been a picture of the loss the people of Israel suffered for having rejected Him as their King. Therefore, many Bible teachers see in our Lord’s words the restoration of the Jewish people to their land as a sign of the immediacy of our Lord’s return. And this may be the case.

But notice that He doesn’t use the fig tree alone in His parable. He added, “and all trees”. This, in other words, is a phenomenon that is true of all kinds of trees—of which the fig tree might have been the most prominent in the minds of His disciples. Whenever any tree—even the apple trees that many of us have in our yards—begins to show forth its buds, it’s a sign that spring has arrived and that summer is just around the corner. And notice also that He doesn’t say that the buds are symbolic of the restoration of the nation of Israel, but rather that they are symbolic of the beginnings of what He referred to as “these things”. In verse 31, He said, “So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near.” The “these things” that He was referring to were the things He mentioned in verses 25-26; “signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken”. The beginning of the occurrence of these things are signs that the tree is budding, and the summer is about to come. As He said in verse 28, “Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”

And the experience of these things will be that—from the standpoint of the whole of human history—they happen fast. They won’t occur over many centuries; but in a matter of only a few years. He said in verse 32, “Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place”; and the most natural and normal way to understand His words is that the generation of people who are alive on earth at the time that these things begin to happen will not die out until they are brought to a completion. It will all occur within one generation’s time.

And what’s more, the occurrence of these things is certain. Jesus said in verse 33, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” The people of this world may ignore what our Lord is saying—and they may dismiss His words as if they had been proven ‘outdated’ and ‘untrue’ by the fact that two-thousand years have passed and they still haven’t been fulfilled. But He promises that they will occur. They are more sure than the continued existence of heaven and earth themselves.

Now; with these words, our Lord has described the serious nature of the times and events that will precede His second coming. They will absolutely happen—just as our Lord has promised; and the whole unbelieving world will be caught by surprise by them.

This, then, leads our Lord to issue to you and me …

2. THE WARNING TO KEEP ALWAYS ON THE ALERT (vv. 34-36).

He said in verse 34, “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.” The word for “carousing” in the original language is a very unpleasant one. It’s one that refers to drunkenness to the point of being nauseous. It’s what people today think of as a wild and reckless party—a binge of drunkenness and debauchery. The word “drunkenness”, of course, would refer to everyday, common drunkenness. And you may think, “But Lord; would You really have to warn Your followers not to be ‘burdened down’ by such things? But sadly, He does. Many ‘professing’ Christians allow themselves to be caught up in the addictions of the world; and end up slipping down into moral and spiritual loss—doing things that they never thought they’d end up doing.

But it isn’t just those kinds of things that can burden down the heart. He said “cares of this life” can do that too. We can be like the third soil that our Lord told in another of His parables—the one in which the seeds of His word fell and took root; but in which the thorns grew up and choked out the seeds so that the soil couldn’t produce fruit. Our hearts can be weighed down with ‘respectable’ things—getting ahead, keeping up, building a home, making a life for ourselves—never noticing that we are choking out our preparedness for the day of the Lord’s return.

Because of the unexpected nature of that coming day, we must always take heed, lest our hearts be weighed down … and it catch us by surprise. Our Lord went on to say—in verse 35—“For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth.” A snare implies the use of deceptiveness. The apostle Paul gave us a picture of how the world will be fooled by those times. He wrote about the coming of the antichrist, and said,

The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness (2 Thessalonians 2:9-11).

The whole world will be fooled and will be ensnared. It’s important, then, that we as Jesus’ followers keep on the alert. In verse 36, He said, “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

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In Titus 2:11-14, the apostle Paul wrote;

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works (Titus 2:11-14).

If we are truly studying end-times theology and the signs of the Lord’s coming as we should, it will give us a holy expectation that leads us toward a holy manner of living.

So; let’s learn all that we can—from whatever God has given us in His word—about the events of the end times. Let’s be duly fascinated, and let’s be thrilled with expectation and hope. But let’s also remember that if that’s all we do, then we are putting our souls at risk. Let’s, above all, make very sure that we are living in a constant state of alertness—keeping ourselves from sin or from being bogged down with the temporal things of life.

The unexpected time of the Lord’s return means that we absolutely must keep always and ever on the alert—with our eyes fixed upon our blessed Lord!