23

Signs of Christ’s Return—Part 7: The Believer’s Gift to Christ
(Luke 21:34–36)

Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (21:34–36)

The birth of Jesus Christ is the most familiar event of ancient history and the most well-known story in all of Western culture. Christmas is ostensibly the celebration of the incarnation. In reality, however, it has long been confused with and obscured by unrelated cultural baggage, pagan features, and winter themes. The syncretistic amalgam is the largest, longest, most elaborate, and most expensive celebration in the Western world, and in the center of all the confusion is the acknowledgment that the Son of God was born.

But though the world sees (if in a jaded way) the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ as a good reason for an endless party, there will be no partying when He comes the second time:

As popular as it is to sentimentalize the arrival of the baby in Bethlehem, it is correspondingly unpopular to proclaim His arrival to execute final judgment. The world is eager to embrace an infant in a manger, but has no tolerance for a sovereign Lord coming in power, glory, and judgment. Jesus came to earth the first time in humility to save sinners; He will return in the full display of His deity and glory to judge sinners, establish His kingdom for the saints, and bring to reality the eternal state, finally populating heaven and hell.

The most dramatic revelation regarding our Lord’s return comes from the detailed teaching He Himself gave the disciples two days before His execution. That teaching, commonly known as the Olivet Discourse, is found in Matthew 24 and 25, Mark 13, and Luke 21. In His discourse, Jesus described the signs that would lead up to His coming (cf. the exposition of Luke 21:7–33 in the previous chapters of this volume).

What He did not reveal, however, was the exact time of His return. Instead, He warned believers, “Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour” (Matt. 25:13; cf. Luke 12:40). No signs precede the rapture, which is the next event on the prophetic calendar. It is imminent; that is, Christ could return for His church at any time. This truth of immanency is demonstrated by many statements from Paul, such as when he commended the Corinthian believers because they were “awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 1:7) that will take place when He returns, and the Thessalonian Christians for “wait[ing] for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come” (1 Thess. 1:10). In his second inspired letter to the Thessalonians, Paul wrote as if believers’ “gathering together to [Christ]” (2 Thess. 2:1) could take place at any time. Three times in the last chapter of the Bible, Jesus personally promised that He was coming suddenly (Rev. 22:7, 12, 20).

The reality of the many features which are part of the second coming is a source of comfort for Christians; it is their “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13). As noted above, the Corinthian church was “awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 1:7). After presenting the truth about the rapture to the Thessalonians, Paul wrote, “Therefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thess. 4:18). James exhorted his readers, “You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near” (James 5:8). The apostle John’s reply to Jesus’ promise that He would return, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20), expresses the longing and anticipation that has characterized all who love the Lord Jesus Christ.

This portion of Luke’s account of the Olivet Discourse contains Jesus’ final extended teaching regarding His return. Relating to the Christmas gifts of the wise men, it may be summarized as four gifts Christians can give Him when He returns: vigilant anticipation, spiritual separation, evangelistic occupation, and faithful continuation.

VIGILANT ANTICIPATION

Be on guard … But keep on the alert at all times (21:34a, 36a)

Since the first event of the apocalypse, the signless rapture of the church, is imminent, believers are to live their lives in the expectation that Jesus may return for His body at any moment. The church at Thessalonica modeled the constant vigilance, watchfulness, and readiness that is to mark all Christians by continuing to “wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come” (1 Thess. 1:10). Believers must always be on guard and keep on the alert at all times, since the Lord’s coming will be as unexpected as the arrival of a thief (Luke 12:39; 2 Peter 3:10; Rev. 3:3; 16:15).

Matthew’s account of the Olivet Discourse contains three illustrations that emphasize the need to be ready. The first is the historical account of the global flood:

During the one hundred twenty years that Noah spent building the ark, life went on as usual, as indicated by the matter-of-fact statement that people were “eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage” (v. 38). They paid no attention to the constant warnings of coming judgment proclaimed by Noah, who is called “a preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5). In their skepticism and unbelief, they rejected the truth that judgment was coming “until the flood came and took them all away” (Matt. 24:39). The same thing happened on a local scale “in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all” (Luke 17:28–29). Further illustrating the sudden unexpectedness of His return He said, “There will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left” (vv. 40–41). People will ignore all the warnings and life will go on as usual until it is too late and divine judgment falls on the unprepared world.

A second illustration of Matthew’s account is the hypothetical story of a man whose house was robbed. Obviously, “if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into” (v. 43). No thief would be foolish enough to announce in advance when he was going to rob someone; therefore homeowners have to be prepared at all times. Applying the principle to His return, Jesus said, “For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will” (v. 44).

A final analogy contrasts a faithful slave with a wicked one. The “faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household [gave his fellow slaves] their food at the proper time” (v. 45). Because he faithfully carried out his duties in his master’s absence, Jesus said of him, “Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions” (vv. 46–47).

On the other hand, the “evil slave [said] in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’ and [began] to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards” (vv. 48–49). But “the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know” (v. 50), and the price for his unpreparedness for his master’s return will be severe. His master “will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (v. 51).

It is not surprising that unbelievers live indifferently and irresponsibly, with no regard for the Lord’s coming; that they say mockingly, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation” (2 Peter 3:4). But it is inexcusable for believers to disregard the second coming and live careless lives. To do so is to face the loss of eternal rewards (2 John 8).

SPIRITUAL SEPARATION

Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. (21:34)

Vigilant anticipation of the Lord’s return produces the fear that leads to holiness and virtue in believers, since it motivates separation from worldliness and sin. Mēpote (so that) introduces a result clause that expresses the expected outcome of vigilantly anticipating the second coming. Those who eagerly watch for the Lord’s return will not have their hearts … weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, so that day will not come on them suddenly like a trap.

Believers seem to be in view here because they are differentiated from those who dwell on … the earth. They are to live in such a manner that they can present to Christ a heart that is not weighted down with sin. Bareō (weighted down) means “to be burdened,” “to be troubled,” or “to be overcome.” In Matthew 26:43 it describes the eyes of Peter, James, and John as being heavy with sleep, and in Luke 9:32 it refers to the same three being overcome with sleep at the transfiguration. The word is used figuratively in 2 Corinthians 1:8 of Paul’s affliction, and in 2 Corinthians 5:4 to speak of the crushing burden of sin and affliction that believers experience in this life.

Jesus then gave three examples of sins that can weigh people down. Kraipalē (dissipation) literally refers to the nausea associated with drinking and debauchery. Drunkenness and the vile behavior that accompanies it has been a problem throughout history. After the flood Noah “became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent” (Gen. 9:21). Nabal, whose name means “foolish,” lived up to his name (1 Sam. 25:25) by getting drunk at a feast after scorning and turning away David’s messengers (v. 36). While Elah, king of the northern kingdom of Israel, “was at Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household at Tirzah [1 Kings 16:9] … Zimri went in and struck him and put him to death … and became king in his place” (v. 10; cf. 20:16). Shockingly, some of the Corinthians actually got drunk at the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:21). The Bible repeatedly warns against drunkenness (Rom. 13:13; 1 Cor. 5:11; 6:10; Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:18; 1 Peter 4:3).

The worries of life are the issues, struggles, temptations, and cares of this fallen world. In the parable of the sower, Jesus pictured those consumed with them as “the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful” (Mark 4:18–19). In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus told those listening,

The truth that Christians are to live holy lives in light of Christ’s imminent return is repeated several times the New Testament. In Romans 13:11–14 Paul exhorted,

“Now, little children, abide in Him,” John wrote, “so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming” (1 John 2:28). Later in that same epistle he added,

Living in the hope of the rapture and second coming produces vigilance and separation from sin, and avoids the sin that leads to shame now and later the loss of eternal reward (2 John 8).

EVANGELISTIC OCCUPATION

for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. (21:35)

Anticipation of the glorious arrival of the Lord Jesus Christ not only stimulates believers to personal holiness, but also compels them to warn the lost. The Lord’s return will produce universal judgment upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. Sentence and execution will fall on all who have rejected Jesus Christ and the true gospel. That fearful reality should terrify unbelievers and motivate Christians to carry out the great commission to “go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19).

The fact that the antediluvian world ignored the preaching of Noah and were judged so cataclysmically and eternally and the unmistakable warnings of God that pledge that all who reject the gospel will fall to divine judgment (Luke 17:26–30; cf. Matt. 25:1–13) should move the church to compassion for the lost and perishing, just as Jesus wept over Jerusalem (Matt. 23:37; Luke 13:34) and God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezek. 33:11).

But the church today, often abandoning the truth of judgment and hell, is losing its effectiveness in evangelism. Not because people do not talk about Jesus and salvation, but because there is a tendency within evangelicalism to affirm in the name of love and tolerance that anyone who professes even a vague belief in God or Jesus Christ is headed to heaven. Some professing evangelicals go further and claim that even those who do not believe in Jesus or the God of the Bible will go to heaven, if they do their best religiously or morally and sincerely worship God in their own way. Such notions eviscerate evangelism, because they no longer view those who accept only a superficial, truncated form of the gospel as doomed, damned, perishing sinners.

Also contributing to the church’s loss of serious gospel evangelism is the belief among many churches that the only way to reach the lost is to give them what they want. Such churches view boldly confronting sin and judgment and proclaiming the gospel of repentance and faith as an archaic, ineffective method of winning the world. Instead, they seek to make people feel comfortable, and to cater to their whims and desires. The idea is to get sinners to embrace Jesus by making His message less offensive to them.

Such teaching relegates God and His Word to a subordinate role in the church and elevates entertainment over biblical preaching and worship. But the great commission is not a marketing manifesto. Evangelism does not require slick salesmen, but bold, fearless proclaimers of divine truth. (I critique this tendency of some churches in my book Ashamed of the Gospel [Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 1993].)

FAITHFUL CONTINUATION

But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (21:36)

Jesus concluded His message with an urgent exhortation to perseverance; commanding believers to keep on the alert at all times, praying that they may have strength. Throughout the New Testament saints are instructed to continue in the faith and warned not to turn back (e.g., Matt. 24:13; John 8:31; Col. 1:21–23; Heb. 3:6, 14; 10:39). Two promises are given to those who faithfully persevere.

First, they will escape all these things that are about to take place; that is, the future and eternal judgments associated with Christ’s second coming in power and glory (1 Thess. 1:10; 5:9). The believers of the church age will be raptured before the tribulation begins and thus escape the future judgments (cf. Rev. 3:10); those alive during the tribulation will be protected from the outpouring of God’s wrath on unbelievers.

Second, having escaped divine judgment, they will stand before the Son of Man, receiving acceptance, approval, and welcome from Him. No one can do so in his own strength. Confronted by a vision of God “sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted” (Isa. 6:1), Isaiah cried out, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts” (Isa. 6:5). Confronted by his inability to keep God’s law, Paul cried out, “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” (Rom. 7:24). Only through the imputed righteousness of Christ (2 Cor. 5:21), purchased at the cross (Col. 1:20), can anyone stand before Him pardoned, cleansed, and accepted (Jude 24–25), “protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5).