“And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole 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 21:34-36.
This chapter substantially parallels Matthew 24 though it includes references to events in Jerusalem in AD 70 when the Roman armies destroyed the city and the nation of Israel was scattered as they remain to a large degree to this day.
I dealt with erroneous conclusions some have drawn from this chapter in the article, Some of the Saviour’s words misunderstood by many! written three months ago when I read this chapter in keeping with Robert Murray M‘Cheyne’s Bible Reading Calendar, which brings one who uses it to this portion twice a year.
Let me set down the two portions from these two chapters containing the Saviour’s words to His disciples when they questioned Him, (Luke 21:7, Matthew 24:3). Many have concluded, because of the similarity of language, that these chapters refer to the same event, the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70..
Luke 21:20-27 states:
“And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”
Matthew 24:15-27 reads:.
“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
It may be easily seen that believers have understood these passages to refer to the exact same events. But there is at least 2000 years separating these tremendous happenings!
Luke includes some words of Christ which Matthew does not. In Luke there are references to destruction by the Romans of Jerusalem some 2000 years ago, whereas Matthew centres upon events in Jerusalem which have not yet occurred.
In AD 70 Jerusalem was surrounded by the armies of Rome and this will happen again. The armies of the future Antichrist, whose dominion will be the territories within the borders of the ancient Roman Empire, will besiege Jerusalem just before the Saviour’s return. Luke’s account of the Saviour’s words tells us what He had to say about AD 70 AND also events at His return in glory but Matthew deals ONLY with the second destruction of Jerusalem.
Zechariah prophesied of that event..
“The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. . . . Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east,” Zechariah 12:1-3, 14:1-4.
Please consider what was said by the Saviour at the end of that quotation from Luke 21 I have given you.
“And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled,” Luke 21:24.
This was the fate of Jerusalem in AD 70. That date is made plain by the words of the Saviour: “Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”
AD 70 marked a very definite time when the Gentiles ‘trod’ down Jerusalem which, to a large degree they still do, even though since the 1948 re-emergence of Israel as a nation and the subsequent advances in control of their ancient land, promised by God to them, the Gentile dominance of the ‘promised land’ has diminished!
The next three verses in Luke 21, carries us forward from AD 70 to the second time when Jerusalem will be besieged, just prior to the return of Christ. Then there will be, “Signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory,” verses 25-27.
The similarity of words is explained by the fact that events in the past often closely foreshadow events in the future. This is not only a demonstration of how Providence thus gives us warnings of things to come but we are thus reminded that man in his sinful and rebellious ways never changes and thus brings upon himself the unchanging response of God! What happened to the old world in the days of Noah will happen again — it will be visited for its rebellion by the wrath of God. We can read the story of Pharaoh, of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Babylon and , aye of Jerusalem and see in these events harbingers of things soon to come to pass on this earth.
But to return to our featured verses, Luke 21: 34-36.
Here we have words DIRECTED AT US WHO LIVE IN THE VERY DAYS IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THE RETURN OF CHRIST.
While the signs which signal the imminent return of Christ are not yet seen, that is the: “signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars,” verse 25, we do see “distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.”
The conditions of the physical earth have become a source of great concern amongst world leaders and frantic and foolish attempts to roll back what has its roots in man’s greedy, self-indulgence which poisoned the soil and rivers, corrupted the skies and polluted the seas! The harvest of man’s sin has ‘distressed’ many in the world. Sadly, since the world has for generations been progressively rejecting God’s truth, mankind knows nothing of the significance of these events!
BUT the child of God should not be in such darkness. As Paul has written to the Thessalonians: “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober,” 1 Thessalonians 5:4-6. So the Saviour expects His people in the last days to recognise the events which signal the approach of the end.
I. HOWEVER, THERE IS THAT WHICH CAN ROB THE BELIEVER OF AN AWARENESS OF THE APPROACH OF THE DAY OF THE LORD.
“And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares,” verse 34
1. The word ‘unawares’ means ‘unexpected, sudden, unforeseen’. If we read and believe our Bibles the ‘end-time’ signs shall not be that which are ‘unforeseen’. Rather, we will be acquainted with them so that they do come unexpectedly and suddenly!
2. That which destroys awareness and vigilance is our hearts coming under attack. “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts . . . ” The heart is the centre of our being and source of the direction our life takes. “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he,” Proverbs 23:7. “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies,” Matthew 15:19.
The heart is the target of that which would change the direction of the Christian who, since conversion like Bartimaeus, was following the Lord. “And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way,” Mark 10:52. The ‘new birth’ made each Christian a ‘new creature’ (2 Corinthians 5:17). We began to “walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin,” 1 John 1:7.
Such a walk is greatly opposed. Every effort is made to divert the Christian and it is that which the Saviour warns us about. If that happens one of the consequences is a rapidly diminishing awareness, a losing of consciousness of the blessed subject of the Saviour’s return.
Rather than it being ever at the front of minds and thoughts, as it was with the Old Testament and New Testament earnest believers — “And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him,” Luke 2:25; “ . . . ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body,” Romans 8:23, it slips away and is forgotten.
Is that not the state of all too many believers today?
3. The means by which the return of Christ is removed from our thoughts is given here by the Saviour. “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life.”
* How wonderfully detailed are the Saviour’s warnings! We have no excuse for becoming victims of this distraction.
The word ‘overcharged’ means ‘weighed down’. Things may enter our hearts and sink us down into an anxiety about matters that do not count. Such was the spirit of Martha as the Saviour showed her. “And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her,” Luke 10:41-42.
What Martha cared about was not sinful. Where she erred was that she cared TOO MUCH about those things which, quite proper in moderation, carried her away by her being to too occupied with such matters.
* The matters that can distract us by becoming the concerns of our heart to a sinful level are given us here. “Lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life.” These are the things the devil, the world and our own flesh would have become the chief concerns of our heart!
“Surfeiting”. This is a reference to the what is commonly called ‘a hangover’ as a result of excessive drinking of alcohol.
“Drunkenness”. This needs no explanation.
“Cares of this life”. Here is the most common of the things which can weigh down the believer. Caring for the matters that concern our affairs in this earthly life is not sinful. After all we are urged in many places in the Bible to be diligent, hardworking, attentive to the our parental and filial and family affairs, our employment and many other earthly pursuits.
What the Saviour is warning about is an ‘over concern’ for these matters so that the chief concern which ought to come first amongst our concerns — seeking “first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness,” Matthew 6:33, falls away from its proper place in our priorities.
The proper order of our earthly priorities is given us in that famous and wonderful definition of our primary duty by the Saviour. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,” Matthew 22:37-39.
When those two duties become secondary to our own fleshly desires, then God and His Kingdom and all related matters sink out of sight and out of mind!
II. IS NOT THE SPIRIT ABROAD IN THIS WORLD TODAY THAT WHICH THE SAVIOUR IS HERE WARNING US ABOUT?
Apart from the earliest years of this age, when the Word of God and its holy precepts were unknown amongst the nations until by the power of God the gospel become more widely proclaimed, I do not think that there has ever been such an age of thoughtless indifference to the things of God. Ignorance is not an excuse as it was with earlier times. Today, the Word of God is circulated throughout ALL nations by the Internet. The ruins of the widespread establishment of God’s truth may be seen in the many institutions, born of the faithful and courageous labours of those long entirely forgotten by today’s generation. That built by God’s servants in former times lies ruined to a very large degree by the world-wide apostasy that has arisen over the last 100 years. Modernism, liberalism, ecumenism and other such labels have marked the course of that which is nothing short of the “seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils”, prophesied of by Paul (1 Timothy 4:1) and marketed of late by the devil’s agents under the guise of being true servants of God. That which was seen in some measure in the early days of the New Testament age, has become the norm in these days.
“The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them,” 2 Corinthians 4:4. This ‘blinding’ was accomplished ny the crafty subterfuge of the devil. “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him,” 2 Corinthians 11:3-4.
Sad to say, those professing Christ as their Saviour have always been easily deceived by the devil, being ever ready to abandon the ways of God for the pleasures of sin, even as is demonstrated in the history of Israel in ancient times! Paul was thus grieved by the behaviour of the Galatian believers.
“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed, Galatians 1:6-9.
That seen to a localised measure in Galatia is seen world-wide today. This is what the Saviour said would come “on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth,” verse 35.
It is the source of our troubles in the recent past and will be the cause of a yet more terrible harvest reaped in an Ulster which has sought to break the bands of God’s Law asunder, and cast away the cords of divine decrees from us, (Psalm 2:3).
III. THIS FLESHLINESS WILL PROVE TO BE A CRUEL SNARE UPON MANKIND.
“For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth,” verse 35.
1. The word ‘snare’ carries the meaning of a ‘trap or noose’ in which birds are entangled and caught unexpectedly and suddenly. Birds are still caught, or were until very recent times, in France by the means of such nets stretched across their migratory flight path. You can imagine how a net, almost invisible suddenly traps the poor creatures, not birds that we would consider stable dinner table fare but smaller birds.
In like fashion, tens of thousands, aye, millions of professing ‘Christians’ have been trapped by the nets laid across their paths by modernistic false preachers. The mainline churches have many entangled in doctrinal nets which deny what God has said and replace His Laws by man’s own inventions, thus blocking the ‘flight path to heaven’!
2. Today, it is increasingly, overwhelmingly believed within ‘Christendom’ that God’s denunciations of sin are no longer in force. Fornication, adultery, divorce, abortion, sodomy and ever deepening perversity is embraced, condoned and elevated to that which is considered sacrosanct and beyond reproach. Indeed, people have been taken to court for merely repeating what God has said on such matters.
Were Christ to walk amongst men today as He once did, He would be crucified afresh for His teachings!
3. These trends to which men are blind regarding their true and eternal character, are the beginnings of the harvest which will result in God intervening as in the days of Noah.
This Christ has said. “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 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, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be,” Matthew 24:37-39.
The Saviour characterises the days before the flood in these words: “the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.”
There is nothing wrong in ‘eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage” except when THAT IS ALL PEOPLE THINK ABOUT! Eternal matters have no place in their thoughts or actions. That is how it is today. There is eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage – to excess to the utter exclusion of God. The words of the Psalmist may be correctly applied to this generation.
“For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth. The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts. His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them. He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity. His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity,” Psalm 10:3-7.
Nothing fits better the principal Unionist occupants of the seats in Stormont than these words! There is an arrogant casting aside of God’s truth by the DUP, the party which once required its local branch meetings to open with the reading of the Bible and prayer. That was a time when Christians made up the majority of its membership. It is far removed from that disposition today!
Recently, an article appeared in the ‘Belfast Newsletter’ under the headline:
DUP MLA declares: ‘Unionists can no longer afford to be narrow-minded – we need to be progressive’
One of Stormont’s newest DUP MLAs has said she wants unionism to be “progressive”, saying it can “no longer” afford to be “narrow-minded”.
Cheryl Brownlee made the comments in an opinion piece for the most recent edition of the Orange Standard, the order’s monthly magazine.
She had been a councillor in Carrickfergus since 2014, working closely with MLA Davy Hilditch, and when he stepped down last autumn shortly before dying from cancer she was selected to step into his role.
Her comments come after renewed talk from the DUP leadership of the need for unionism to broaden its appeal and show “unity” – something which has cropped up sporadically ever since it lost the mantle of “Northern Ireland’s biggest party” to Sinn Fein in the 2022 Assembly elections.
She went on to say: “Upon this solid base it can begin to move forward in a progressive, sustainable manner.”
This new recruit dismisses the former beliefs of the DUP, principles by which it came to the forefront of Unionism, and would have her own juvenile notions replace that which was born of a fear of God.
‘Progressive’ and ‘broad-minded’ may be summarised under ‘antiGod’! I wonder, does Cheryl Brownlee know that the Lord has laid down as an eternal truth the following?
“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves,” Matthew 7:13-15.
In truth, Cheryl Brownlee is not the originator of her ‘progressive’ notions. They have their genesis in the falsehoods of those the Lord designates as ‘false prophets’ and ‘ravening wolves’.
The DUP has only switched from the Word of God to adopting the damnable teachings of the apostasy of the mainline churches.
Where this change of direction will end is seen in the Saviour’s words — ‘DESTRUCTION’!
Rev Ivan Foster (Rtd)
8th March 2024