Luke 21 verse 36 says that if we watch and pray we can escape all these things? What are "all these things"? I have linked two associated passages below our text. Notice the corresponding color-coded words and phrases.
Luk 21:34 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. Luk 21:35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Luk 21:36 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.
1Th 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 1Th 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 1Th 5:4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 1Th 5:5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 1Th 5:6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. 1Th 5:7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. 1Th 5:8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. 1Th 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 1Th 5:10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
Rev 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
Let's look at this again.
Luk 21:34 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. Luk 21:35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Luk 21:36 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.
A) Who is Jesus speaking to?
"And take heed to yourselves"
The Lord is initially speaking to 4 of His disciples.
Mar 13:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, Mar 13:4 Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled? Mar 13:5 And Jesus answering them began to say,
However, the divine narrator, the Holy Spirit, who directed Matthew in the writing of his gospel, lets us know that Christ's words were intended for all who would follow Him, all who hear His voice.
Mat 24:15 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:)
Jesus is speaking particularly to His followers, but is also providing understanding to any who would read what He said.
The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are Scripture, therefore they fall under the truth that Paul declared to Timothy. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." (2Ti 3:16, 17). We can safely conclude that Christ's words are for every blood-bought child of God.
B) What is the warning Christ is giving?
Much like the warning that Paul gave Timothy (1Ti 4:16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.) Christ warns His followers that if they take their eyes off of Him, off of the heavenly, spiritual, and eternal, and they become focused upon this life with all its pleasures, entertainment, and excitement, they too, like the lost world, will be caught by surprise by the return of Christ and the events which precede it. He says that if believers sleep the long slumber of those who love the world, when the day comes, they will be unprepared for the persecution and deception preceding Christ's coming and they will be ashamed when they see Christ.
Jesus says to believers that if their hearts are overcharged (overfilled, in excess, weighed down) with surfeiting, drunkenness, and the cares of this life, this future time will catch them by surprise.
1) So, what is surfeiting?
As with the word overcharged, surfeiting strongly indicates excess, and refers to indulgence to excess in anything. It could refer to food, the seemingly insatiable desire of many to have some new dining experience. Or maybe it's the desire to try all the drinks available to mankind. It could also refer to the fixation of many upon fitness, bodybuilding, cross-fit, etc. There is also the multitude of sports that absorb people's lives. And the list goes on and on. Paul said, “for me to live is Christ.” If you want to know if you are guilty of surfeiting, honestly finish the same statement yourself. For me to live is ______________. What absorbs your time and resources? Jesus said that where your treasure is there your heart will be also. This excess we should carefully guard against, because it is a distraction from attending to watchful, expectant, activity for Christ's return. Surfeiting leaves you distracted.
2) So, what is drunkenness?
Drunkenness is a state of intoxication that leaves one without the normal use of his or her faculties. It has both a literal and figurative application. It is one of many prohibitions against intoxicating drinks and substances (drugs) in the Holy Scriptures. It can also refer to the mental fog that one is left in by feeding the mind upon the teachings and philosophies of the humanistic world and false religions. Anything that hinders sound judgment has the capacity to leave one in the state of drunkenness. Drunkenness leaves you asleep (unaware and unresponsive to the spiritual realities of the days in which we live).
3) What about the cares of this life?
Cares of this life are the concerns that we have for our necessities or our perceived necessities. These concerns span every facet of our existence, from our food, to our health, to those who rule over us (government). Jesus said: "...Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?" (Mat 6:25). Again, He said: "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." (Mat 6:34). God knows our needs better than we do and His love for us is greater than any other. Trust Him to provide your needs. "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Mat 6:31-33). The cares of this life leave you fearful.
4) If believers are distracted, asleep, and fearful they will be caught by surprise by the events that Jesus has described in this discourse and therefore suffer needlessly for it. C) The day of the Lord shall come as a snare upon the earth dwellers
"For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth." The day of the Lord will catch the unbelieving world of the Beast worshipers by surprise. These unbelievers are identified over and over as earth-dwellers. Christ's warnings are so that the day doesn't catch us, who are citizens of Heaven, by surprise. In fact, Paul says concerning the watching believer in the context of the day of the Lord (Vs 2): "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. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him." (1Th 5:4-10) No believer will experience the wrath of God poured out in the day of the Lord. The church is raptured before the wrath of God is initiated in the day of the Lord.
D) Keeping awake and praying all the time will result in you being able to flee from the destruction of Jerusalem (70 AD) and the epicenter of the great tribulation (Jerusalem and Judea), and to be unashamed before Christ at the judgment.
"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." (Luk 21:36)
There are two events that Jesus warns about in the Olivet Discourse that can bring needless suffering to the child of God. The first is long past, it involved the siege upon Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. History records that the watching Christians left the city upon seeing the sign of the Roman armies surrounding Jerusalem and were spared the horrible death and suffering that came upon the Christ rejecting Jews that remained there. The second is the future unprecedented persecution of the elect (and ethnic Israel) that Jesus called great tribulation. Even though the church will go through this period of violent persecution and supernatural deception, Christ's warnings have left us some direction concerning how we might mitigate some of the physical sufferings and be protected entirely from the spiritual danger.
The word translated "escape" refers to fleeing. This is the very thing Jesus told believers in Judea to do when they see the abomination of desolation taking place. Identifying the beginning of the Beast's persecution of the saints (the abomination of desolation) will help us to flee from those who would do us harm. The instruction concerning the mark of the Beast that was provided to us by John in the book of Revelation lets us prepare for a time when we will not be able to buy or sell. This means that for a period of time (less than 3 years, ask me if you need an explanation) we will need to be self-sufficient, that is without our present involvement in our local communities and economies. Christ's many warnings about deception also forearm us against apostasy and even false reports about Christ's arrival. Christ makes it very clear that His arrival will be no secret. In fact, He says it will be unmistakable. All the world shall see Him, in all His glory, with the mighty angels when He appears in the clouds of the atmospheric heaven. Don’t forsake Christ. The last danger that I want to mention is the greatest danger, it involves forsaking Christ and worshiping the Beast. Jesus mentioned that many will be offended when they suffer persecution for Christ’s name’s sake (Matt 24:9-10). They will forsake Christ and betray other believers. He also said that the false prophets shall deceive many by means of their lying signs and wonders (Matt 24:11, 24). There will be much supernatural deception during this period. The unprecedented persecution and lying signs and wonders are what causes the apostasia (falling away) that Paul says takes place before the day of Christ (2Thes 2:3). The real eternal danger that we can escape because we have been forewarned, is that of failing to continue in faith toward Christ. The pressure to reject Christ and follow the Beast will be immense. We will see many who have identified as Christians deny Christ and follow the Beast. For these, we are told that they will be eternally damned (Rev 14:9-11). We are saved by grace through faith in the person and work of Christ apart from any merit and human performance, but continuing in faith toward Christ is non-negotiable, it is essential. Faith is not meritorious. It is simply the hand that reaches out to receive the gift of God provided to us in the person of Christ. Any, who cast off Christ are not a partaker in Him. The Scriptures are emphatic that the faith that saves is an abiding faith, a faith that continues. The following texts make this point clear. Any, who do not continue in faith are not a partaker of Christ. Heb 3:14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
Any, who do not continue to believe, are not of Christ's household.
Heb 3:6 But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
We must continue in the Faith. None can ultimately deny Christ and hope for Salvation.
Act 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
If one fails to continue in the Faith, they have believed in vain.
1Co 15:2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
Continuing in the Faith is absolutely essential. Again, our salvation is not based upon merit or human performance, but it does require an abiding faith in Christ.
Col 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister; Believing unto the end is required. Faith is not a meritorious work, it is the hand that reaches out to receive the grace of God, even the gift of eternal life. Anyone who abandons faith in Christ is lost.
Heb 6:11 And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
Falling away, even ultimately denying Christ, due to persecution or being deceived results in eternal damnation. Salvation is only found in Christ. To forsake Him is to cast away all hope.
1Jn 2:23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
1Jn 2:24 Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.
Paul says for us to not be highminded, but fear. For if God cut off the Israelites who did not believe, He certainly will do the same to those among the Gentiles who fail to continue in the Faith.
Rom 11:20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
Rom 11:21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
Rom 11:22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
Our understanding must recognize the truth of all Scripture texts, not just the ones we find convenient. The faith that saves, continues. One final warning. Don’t think for a moment that some can take the mark and worship the Beast to escape the persecution and then repent and find forgiveness with Christ. Paul makes it quite clear that the Lord Himself will send them strong delusion that they might believe a lie, that they all might be damned. 2Th 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 2Th 2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
The last phrase found in verse 36 speaks of the believer standing in Christ's presence. There are a handful of verses which shed light upon this phrase.
Rom 14:4 Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
Psa 1:5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
Psa 130:3 If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?
Rev 6:17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
The only way to stand before the Son of man is to be clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Christ is become the righteousness of all those who have an abiding faith in Him.
There is also the truth that the apostle John spoke of, that we must be careful to continue in fellowship with Christ so that we can have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His parousia.
1Jn 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
If any of us take our focus off of Christ and get sucked into the world and the cares of this life it won't be fun when we meet Him. In order to not be ashamed when meeting Christ we must maintain close fellowship now.
1Jn 1:7 But if we 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.
In conclusion, the snare is for the Christ rejecting world, not for the saints. Only the believers which are distracted, asleep, and fearful will be caught by surprise and be unprepared when these things begin to take place. By watching and praying all the time believers will be prepared and know how to mitigate all of the spiritual danger and suffer the physical persecution with gladness.
Please know that it is not our purpose to escape persecution, it is our purpose to be faithful unto Christ, even unto death. It is an honor and a privilege to suffer for Christ.
Rev 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
What is it that we escape?
“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.” (Luk 21:34-36)
“For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 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. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.” (1Th 5:2-10)
“Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.” (Rev 3:10)