Living Life Ready

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0:00I was chucking my children's shoes at them while they were trying to dodge on the playground equipment, all right? They loved it. It was a great time. I'm sure we looked insane from the road, but we were having a blast. And the playground equipment was kind of like most playground equipment. It was multi-tiered, and there were slides, and monkey bars, and things to slide down. And most importantly for this story, there was just enough clearance under the deck of the playground for a six-year-old to be able to run full speed, okay? And so we're playing shoe dodgeball, and I'm whipping these shoes at my kids. And at some point, I realized that Levi is missing.

0:43And what had happened is I had started focusing on Noah because I had thrown two of what I thought were very sure hits with my shoe missiles. And he dodged them, and so I'm a little competitive. And so I decided, okay, I'm going to get him. And so at this point, I had taken off my own shoes, and I had six missiles for which to get my son. And so I started a salvo of shoe bombs aimed at Noah. And in that time, I realized, like, Levi's not there. Where is he? But I'm trying to hit Noah, and shoes are flying, and I'm darting my eyes around. And I realized too late that maybe I should look down.

1:24So let me set the scene for you. It slows down. Shoes are flying. Noah's ducking. And I step back and think, where's Levi? I take one step back, look down, to find my six-year-old sweet precious son three-fourths of the way into a full body punch. All right? He loves this story. It was too late. There was nothing I could do. Time speeds up. Levi finds his mark at the only part of my body that was available to him. I crumpled to the ground in defeat, and distraction cost me very dearly that day. I really felt it that day. Here's the thing.

2:10So, distraction can make us miss what's most important, like keeping track of both of your sons in a game of shoe dodgeball, okay? Our text today warns us about distraction and about living a distracted life that leads us to be surprised and unready for the return of Jesus. The main point of our passage today comes to us in verse 34. Look at what verse 34 of Luke 21 says, but watch yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life. And here's the warning, that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. Here's the bottom line for you and I this morning. We want to live ready, not distracted. Let's read the text together.

3:06This is Luke 21, verses 25 through 38. Let me remind you, this is God's holy word. It's his matchless word. It's living, and it's active, and God uses it to shape our hearts and minds. Read with me. Starting verse 25, and there will be signs in sun and moon and stars and on the earth distress of nations and perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves. People fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken, and then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up, raise your heads because your redemption is drawing near. And he told them a parable. Look at the fig tree and all the trees. As soon as they come out and leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. So also when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

4:26But watch yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place and to stand before the Son of Man. And every day he was teaching in the temple, but at night he went out and lodged on the mount called Olivet. And early in the morning all the people came to him in the temple to hear him. This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray together. Lord God, we come to you in your word eager to hear from you. Lord, would you speak to us in your word? Thank you that you are sovereign and that every heart in here has reason to hear this word today. Lord, would you move me out of the way? And would you just teach us? We love you. Amen.

5:27Amen. All right. So this morning we're going to talk, I break the text up in this way. We're going to talk about heavenly signs, a fig tree, and a warning. So first let's look at heavenly signs. The first part of our text this morning is really a continuation of what Pastor Joel taught us last Sunday. So in case you weren't here or you need a refresher, let me just recap just a bit. And I'm just going to preach your whole sermon again, actually. So yeah, let me just recap just a little bit. So Jesus and the disciples are in the temple and the disciples say, and I'm paraphrasing, hey Jesus, this is impressive, right? To which Jesus then responds, well, there's coming a day when all of this is going to be utterly destroyed. And then Jesus prophesies the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, which took place in AD 70. And then he continues by talking about more signs that we'll see in the final days that that phrase keeps coming up, the final days of this last age. And Pastor Joel made an important clarification Sunday that I'm going to repeat here. From the time of Christ's ascension into heaven, friends, we have been in the final days of this last age. There's not another age to come. We are it. This is it.

6:42Now the text mentions things that have happened, like the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. It mentions things that are happening and that have happened in these final days, this past 2,000 plus years, such as natural disasters and wars and pestilences and famines. And our text this morning continues talking about this topic with signs that have yet to come. Verse 25 picks up and it continues Jesus' answer to the disciples with honestly some pretty exciting stuff. Listen again to verses 25 through 27. Jesus says, There will be signs in sun and moon and stars and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will be fainting with fear and foreboding of what is coming on the world for the powers of the heavens will be shaken and then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Verse 27, that and then of verse 27 lets us know that what these signs are pointing to, these directly precede the coming of Jesus.

7:53Once these heavenly signs take place, then Jesus will begin to return. And the heavenly signs that we see described here, these aren't common signs, right? They're not things that have been happening since God created the cosmos. They're not blood moons or planets lining up in a certain way. They're not asteroids or double rainbows or anything like that. Rather, what we see here are signs that don't make any sense. When observed by humanity, the response is to faint from fear and foreboding, our text says. The people who witness this, they're perplexed at what they're seeing or maybe what they're not seeing in the heavens. And they're perplexed at how it's affecting the oceans of the world. Friends, the sky has been being watched and has been being predicted since the beginning of man. But when these signs take place, when they begin, the nations of the earth are in distress because as they observe the sky, what they're seeing doesn't make any sense to them.

9:05It will seem, I believe, as if the laws of nature have been broken. All things, church, are governed by God. Amen? Even our laws, as we call them, of nature. Colossians 1.17 tells us that all things hold together in Jesus. That's all stars, all atoms, all processes, everything, even the breath of our lungs and the beat of our hearts are governed by God. And it would seem, that is a praise, isn't it? That's good news. It would seem, though, that when these things take place, what Christ is currently holding together in order, he will allow to go out of order as signs that precede his return. And that sounds fantastic, doesn't it? But it's not new. It shouldn't surprise us. God, many times in history in the Bible, has interrupted the regular workings of nature as signs to his people. The burning bush that doesn't get consumed, the Red Sea parting, miraculous healings, the sun and Joshua standing still, just to name a few. And there's more. When these things that our text is talking about, these unprecedented things take place, Jesus says, then I will start to return. Luke 21.27 says, and then they will see the Son of Man coming in the cloud with power and great glory. This is exciting stuff, right? Good movies are made from this kind of material. Well, okay movies, okay? And with such things at the beginning of our passage, we could get swept up in it. And people do. But the main point of our text this morning is to be reminded that you and I want to live life ready, not distracted.

10:56These signs are not our main focus in the passage this morning. And we start to see that as we move into the parable that Jesus then tells the disciples. So let's look at the fig tree. Luke 21 verses 29 through 31, he says, and he told them a parable. Look at the fig tree and all the trees. As soon as they come out and leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Now, it's true, friends. Joel said this last week. Nobody knows the time of Jesus' return. We don't know. And we can't know the date and the time when he will come again, no matter what billboards on I-95 say, okay? All right. There is no secret formula hidden in the pages of Daniel and Revelation to discover. And if you turn the Bible this way and hold it to the eastern wind, then I don't know what they do. All right. But many have tried and all have failed. We're not to look at these things that Jesus is saying and then spend our time and our energy trying to decipher some puzzle that isn't there. But what is clear here is that Jesus is telling his disciples and you and I by extension to not be unaware of his return. He says, if you can look at the fig tree and its leaves, you know, summer is coming. You should be able to see all that I'm telling you and know that we are in those last days and I am coming again.

12:33Jesus wants you and I to be aware that what he is saying throughout this whole passage from verse 6 to verse 28 will take place. Just as this prophecy of Jerusalem's destruction was proved true, all of these things will come to pass. To make sure there's no confusion, actually, he then makes two statements to let us know that for sure these incredible things that he's talking about will happen. One is readily and easily understandable. So let me skip real quick to verse 33. It says, Jesus says, heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. Jesus says, my words will persist forever. Friends, it was by the very words of God that all of creation came into being, right? Jesus, with his words, commanded the wind and the waves and they listened to him. With his words, he called the dead back to life. His words are powerful. And he is saying, heaven and earth will pass away. These concrete things that you think are, will always be here, they will pass away, but my words will persist and my words will come to pass. Verse 33 is pretty clear. But we also have verse 32, which is a little less clear. Here's what he says, truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. And the statement is a little bit of a paradox. In one sense it's clear, but in another sense it's not. What's clear is the meaning is really the same. These things absolutely will take place. But the less clear question persistently is, who is this generation that Jesus is talking about? And I don't want us to get bogged down here because again, this is not the

14:26main point of our passage this morning. The main point is that we want to live ready, not distracted. So I don't want to camp here too long because figuring out exactly what this generation means isn't the point of our text. It's not the main point of our passage. But I do want to give you some things to think about. Let me tell you what this generation cannot mean. And then I'll tell you two things that could mean, okay? This generation cannot mean the current generation that Jesus was talking to when this passage was taking place. Jesus wasn't saying that the first disciples would not die until these things took place. We know that because they have died and Jesus has not returned, right?

15:11These things have not all taken place. So it can't, it can't mean that. It can't mean that specific generation. This generation linguistically in the Greek, it could be referring to time instead of people. And it could be rendered this age will not pass until all this takes place. And that would mean that Jesus is really doubling down on what he says. And he's saying everything I've said will take place. This final church age will not end until all of this has taken place. My words will come to pass.

15:47So verse 32 could mean that. It could also mean that Jesus is referring to the generation that is alive when these final things of verses 25 through 28 begin to take place. When these perplexing heavenly signs begin to take place, it's that generation that is currently alive that will not die. Until Jesus returns. It could mean that. Here's the thing. These are interesting things to think about. They really are. It's interesting to read about it. It's interesting to think about it. But they're not the main point this morning. Jesus is telling us these things for a purpose that friends, you and I do not want to miss. So if you're wondering, okay, get on with it, Jacob, stop talking about these things.

16:37What is the purpose of all this then? Why are you telling us? Why is Jesus saying these things? Don't worry. He tells us. Verse 34. He's a good teacher. Verse 34. Here's the warning. After all of these things, Jesus says, but, and that should draw their attention and our attention, but watch yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life. And that day, his return, come upon you suddenly like a trap. So let's notice the warning.

17:14Watch yourselves, lest your heart be weighed down and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. In verses 6 through 28 of Luke 21, Jesus talks about the signs of the final days that we're living in. In verses 29 and 33, he then gives a parable whose main point is to be aware and alert that all these things will take place and that Jesus is indeed coming back. And then here in verse 34, he gives us an important warning. My words will come to pass. These things will happen, but watch out because your heart can become weighed down. You can become distracted and my return could come on you suddenly like a trap. He's talking to us. We're going to talk about what weighs the heart down in a minute, but let's just focus on the trap for a moment. The idea, the idea here is, and maybe your translation says it, is like a snare, like a loop of wire. And if you want to catch an animal with a snare, what you do is you find its common footpaths. You know where they're going through the brush or where the food trails are, and you place the snare where you know that they're going to be walking. And what happens is the animal is going about its everyday regular business, and then suddenly it finds itself caught in a trap. And for many, Jesus is saying, the return of Jesus will be a sudden surprise to them.

18:48Matthew 24 corroborates this. Look at verses 37 and 39. It says, For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will, says Matthew's gospel, the coming of the Son of Man be. But this should not be so for believers, friends.

19:23We are not, as the people of God, to be unpleasantly surprised with the return of Christ. Meeting Jesus face to face should not feel like us as a sudden trap to us. Instead, it should be like verse 28 of our passage that says, Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up. Raise your heads up because redemption is drawing near. The idea is that you're looking for redemption and that you're ready for redemption and it's coming and you're aware. We should be aware that Christ is coming back so that when we meet him, we straighten up. We raise our heads. We look forward to the drawing near of our redemption. And guys, this isn't just head knowledge. It's not just a mental, like, we believe this. It's the way we live our lives. When Jesus gives an example in scripture of what a faithful servant of his looks like, it's the servant who is found doing the business of the master when the master returns. The warning here is that the cares of this world can keep us from living a life ready for Christ, ready for his return. Those who hear, well done, good and faithful servant, are not those who are distracted, but those who are ready and are living their lives in anticipation of when they will meet Jesus. And while this text mentions directly those who are surprised in the day of Jesus' return, we who are living before those days are not let off the hook here. Church, the truth is you will either meet Jesus when he returns or you'll meet him at your death, but either way you will meet him. Let that day for us feel not like a trap, but instead feel like

21:24a welcome meeting. Amen? And let us take the warning seriously, because here's the truth. Jesus would not warn us about this if it were not an actual danger to us. And hear me clearly, too. I'm not saying this, but I hope it doesn't come through. I am not saying that unless you are working hard, when you meet Jesus, you will not be saved. That's not at all what I'm saying. But there will be saved believers of Jesus Christ that do feel like they're being trapped all of a sudden, surprised all of a sudden when they meet Jesus. And we don't want to be those. Jesus tells us how this could happen to us. Look with me again at verse 34. It says, watch yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap.

22:19Weighed down, dissipation, distracted, consumed, unstable, exhausted. Guys, we all feel these things sometimes, right? Not the only one. But is your life characterized by them? Are you weighed down with the cares of this life so that you can't look at anything else? Are you being crushed by the cares of this life? And listen, it can be large, sprawling concerns like the things that are talked about in this passage, like wars and disease and sickness. And we can be consumed and primarily focused on what's happening in the world and fearful of what it means for us. And that takes up all of our focus.

23:05It could be big things. But it can also be more down-to-earth concerns, friends, about what we're going to eat and what we're going to wear and our marriages and our children and our work and our chores and our to-do lists and our you-can-fill-the-blank in over and over and over again. We can be consumed with those things too so that we are not looking up for the return of Christ but instead are mired and weighed down and crushed and not living ready. Guys, a life spent this way is a squandered life. That's what the word dissipation means. I didn't know that before I looked it up. But that's what it means. It means squandered, wasted. A life distracted like that is a wasted life. What happens is that even though our lives here are temporary, we can live as if this is our eternity. But it's not. Amen? This is not our eternity. We know we should store our treasures in heaven, but often we can be found stockpiling them here. But friends, we cannot spend earthly currency in a heavenly economy. And we know that. So how do we heed this warning? What do we do to avoid this danger of having our hearts weighed down with the rest of the time? Let me talk about four ways that we can fight this. Number one, come to Christ. Maybe this morning you've never put your hope and your faith and your trust in Jesus for your salvation. And as I'm talking about a weighed down heart filled with the worry of this life, you know exactly what I'm talking about. You can feel it.

24:55I have really good news for you if that's you. God wants you to be a citizen of a much better kingdom. He wants you to be free from the tyranny of this world. He wants his return to feel for you like a welcome homecoming instead of a trap. And if you want that, it is available for you today. The Bible says today is the day of salvation. And so Joel would love to talk to you about that. I would love to talk to you about that. Any believer in here would love to talk to you about how you place your faith in Jesus. If you've never done that, that's your first step. Because until you do that, you'll never know freedom and you will always be weighed down. Secondly, though, what we want to do is fill our hearts with eternity, friends. Second Corinthians 4, 17, 18 says, for this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. As we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal, God's Word says. Colossians 3, 1 through 3 says, if you've been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. God's Word says, set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you've died and your life is hidden with Christ and God. And so we want to fill our hearts and our minds with eternity, with eternal things. What does that mean for us? Friends, read the Word often. Read God's Bible,

26:34His Word to you often. Talk about it. Think about it. Read good books about it that spur you on to faithfulness. Read about evangelists and God's people used throughout history. Listen to sermons. Watch spiritual movies. Memorize scripture. Do whatever you can so that your eyes start looking from down here and start looking up here to Christ. If a heart consumed with the world weighs us down and distracts us, a heart filled with eternity will lift us up and give us a hunger for God's return.

27:10Third thing we can do is pray. Verse 36 of our passage says, stay awake at all times. That doesn't mean physically. It means mentally, like have an awareness at all times. Praying. For what? That you may have strength to escape these things. Escape this weighed down life, this distracted life. Escape these things so that you can stand when the Son of Man returns. Pray for perseverance as you live in these final days. Pray that your heart would be focused on Christ. Pray that when you become distracted, as you and I will, that God would show you that quickly and that He would strengthen you so that you'd return your vision to where it belongs. God delights to answer these prayers.

27:58He delights to answer prayers that lead us to faithfulness. And so one of the things you can do is pray boldly for yourself and pray with confidence about these things. And the fourth thing is this. We want to live the life of a faithful servant. Be found doing the work of Christ when you meet Christ. Friends, God is going to get His glory with or without us. So let it be with us. Amen? Amen. When Jonathan Edwards was 19, he wrote 70 resolutions for his life. My favorite one is number six, which says this. Resolved to live with all my might while I do live. That gives me goosebumps.

28:50What would it look like for you and I to live with all of our might for God in this season of our lives right now? Maybe I ask you that question and you immediately know. The Holy Spirit has been prompting you for a while now and He's doing it again. And you know, hey, this is what I need to do. I need to serve in that ministry. I need to talk to my neighbor. I need to be bold about Jesus in my workplace. Maybe that's what it is. Maybe you know exactly what that looks like for you right now. Or maybe you don't.

29:23But what you do know is that you need to be doing something. Life has been far too distracted. You have been taken up with the world. And if that's where you are, the church is a great place for you to explore what you could be doing in the kingdom of God. Guys, the church is God's plan to reach the nations. And that means what we do here on a Sunday morning, what we do in Bible study in the week, the events that we do. These are important things with eternal bearing. It's important. And there's a way for you to serve and get involved. I don't know that there's a more happy thing when someone comes to a pastor and says, Pastor, I just really want to be used. Put me to work.

30:07All right. Here's what I can promise you. If you're seeking to live life ready instead of distracted, then God will meet your willingness and your prayer with opportunities to do that. Because he's called you to do it. And he will give you space to do it. And I want that as we close. I want that for you and me. Because a life lived ready for the return of Christ, it's the best life. The world is lying to us about what satisfies us. There is nothing in that world that will satisfy you, but a life lived ready for the return of Christ is the best life because there's joy there. There's satisfaction and meaning and purpose there. But church, most of all are good. God is there.

31:02In heaven, we will have communion with God unhindered, but we don't have to wait for heaven. We can sample the dish now as we pour our lives out for him. Let's not be distracted. Distraction during a game of shoe dodgeball is very costly. But a life squandered in distraction is a disaster. Let's resolve today to live our lives ready for Christ, not distracted. Amen?