In Luke 21:34 and 35 the Lord Jesus said, “Take heed to yourselves lest perhaps your hearts be weighed down with debauchery and drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day come upon you suddenly as a snare. For it will come in upon all those dwelling on the face of all the earth.” This generation can be compared to Noah’s generation. In the days of Noah people were eating, drinking, marrying, and being given in marriage (17:27). They were in debauchery and drunkenness, being stupefied by enjoyment and anxiety. Today people are living in the same way. Therefore, when the Lord comes unexpectedly, “that day” will come upon them as a snare, as a net cast over all those dwelling on the face of all the earth.
However, the Lord said, “Be watchful at every time, beseeching that you would prevail to escape all these things which are about to happen and stand before the Son of Man” (21:36). To prevail is to have the strength and ability to escape the great tribulation. This indicates that those who prevail will be taken, raptured (17:34-36), before the great tribulation (Matt. 24:21). The great tribulation will be a severe trial upon the whole inhabited earth (Rev. 3:10). By their watchfulness and beseeching, those who prevail will have the ability to escape and to be kept out of the hour of trial, which is about to come on the whole inhabited earth, to try them who dwell on the earth. As Christians living on this earth, we should not be caught in the trend of today’s world nor be stupefied by enjoyment and anxieties. We should be vigilant. At every time we need to beseech. We need to pray not in a general way but in a particular way so that we may prevail, have the strength and ability, to escape the things of the great tribulation which are about to take place.
The believers should watch and pray not only to escape the great tribulation but also to “stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36). Before the great tribulation the Lord Jesus will probably still be on the throne. The Lord’s parousia (presence) will begin from the throne. This parousia will continue with His coming to the air and will end with His coming to the earth. At the beginning of His parousia, certain believers, such as the one hundred forty-four thousand firstfruits in Revelation 14, will be raptured to the throne of God and stand with the Savior on the heavenly Mount Zion. This is according to the Lord’s word in Luke 21:36: if we are watching and praying, we will not only prevail to escape the great tribulation but also be those who prevail to stand before the Savior on the heavenly Mount Zion before the great tribulation.
The downward trend on earth is very strong. This trend has become a tide that carries everything and everyone along with it. It is extremely difficult for believers in Christ to stand in the midst of this tide. Therefore, we need to be watchful and pray daily in a particular way so that we may receive the strength that comes from the resurrection life within us and not be caught by the trend of this age but stand against the trend, the tide, of the world. If we pray, we will be filled with Christ as the divine air, and we will be buoyant. Eventually, we will be taken away to meet Christ on the throne. Whether we will become those who prevail to be raptured before the great tribulation does not depend on the Lord. It depends on our watchfulness and on our praying in a particular way. We need to be watchful and pray at every time so that we can prevail to escape the great tribulation and stand before the Son of Man.
We need to watch and pray because we do not know the day and the hour of the Lord’s coming (Matt. 24:42; 25:13). As the believers who are still living, we must be ready to be raptured. “If the householder had known in which watch the thief was coming, he would have watched and would not have allowed his house to be broken into” (24:43). The Lord will come secretly as a thief to those who love Him and will take them away as His treasures. Hence, we should watch. The Lord said, “For this reason you also be ready, because at an hour when you do not expect it, the Son of Man is coming” (v. 44). It is a serious mistake for any believer to think that he can know the exact day and hour of the Lord’s coming. According to the prophecies in the Scriptures, we may know approximately the time of the Lord’s coming. However, the prophecies do not tell us clearly and exactly the day and hour of the Lord’s coming. If we think that we know the day and the time, we are cheating ourselves. In an unexpected hour the Lord will come secretly to the overcoming believers. This is a very serious matter. Hence, we need to be watchful.
According to the context of Matthew 25:13, to be watchful is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. If we want to be prudent virgins, our spirit needs to be burning every day, and our soul, our being, needs to be filled with the extra portion of the Holy Spirit every day (v. 4). The Spirit within us is the saturating Spirit, whom we must allow to saturate our entire being; He needs to spread from within our spirit to reach and penetrate our soul. This is what it means to be a watchful person, one who is ready for the Lord’s coming back.