THE LAST ADMONITION
Edited from writings by R. H. BOLL
But watch ye at
every season, making supplication
that ye may prevail to escape all those things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man (Luke 21: 36).
This weighty sentence concludes our Lords prophetic
discourse, as reported by Luke. It is
evident from this:- (1)that certain things shall come to pass; these are in
part mentioned in the preceding part of the discourse (vs.
25ff); (2) that by watchfulness and
supplication we may prevail to escape all those things; (3) that those who so
escape shall stand before the Son of man.
First
let us examine some of the peculiar and meaningful words the Saviour used in
this sentence.
- Watch ye; not the usual word gregoreo, but a term implying sleeplessness, as of a burdened
heart. It is the word used in Mark 13: 33, also, significantly, in Ephesians 6: 18.
- Making
supplication; meaning to make urgent
request; stronger word than prosenchomai, to pray.
- Prevail; ischuo means to prevail; katischuo, to prevail against over something or somebody; to
overcome, to get the upper hand. The mob
cried out till their voices prevailed (Luke 23: 23) and they
got their wish.
- To
escape; the simple word Phugo means to flee; when strengthened with ek it means
to flee out of some
danger or evil situation, to escape.
- To stand; but to be erect it means to be stationed, for it is a passave form
of histemi, to stand.
- before; more
literally in front of.
These
are remarkable words. That the heavenly
wisdom of the Lord Jesus used them with purpose and determination needs not to
be said. Let us then, having examined
these outstanding words, try to take in the meaning of the verse. It forms the final word of the
conclusion. To get its force we must
look at the two verses preceding:-
But
take heed to yourselves, lest haply your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting
and drunkenness, and cares of this
life; and that day come on you suddenly,
as a snare; for so shall it come upon all them that dwell on the face of
all the earth (Luke
21: 34).
It
is worthy of particular notice how the Lord distinguishes between His own, the
disciples He addresses, and them
that dwell on the face of all the earth. These latter are earth-dwellers, in the bad sense; people who have settled down here below, men of the world whose portion is in this
life (Psalm 17: 14) as
contrasted with those who are sojourners
and pilgrims (1 Peter 2: 11). Upon such that day
will come suddenly as a snare - which obviously, in the Lords warning, must be
considered as a dreadful calamity, by all means to be avoided. He solemnly cautions His disciples not to let
their hearts be taken up with self-indulgence, drunkenness, or the cares of
this life which choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful (Mark 4: 19); for in that case would that day come upon them suddenly,
as a snare,
precisely as it will upon the earth-dwellers. (Compare Revelation 3: 3).
Now to our verse. Here the Lord Jesus marks out
the course necessary for His own who are to escape the terrible things that
shall come to pass and who shall be permitted to stand before the Son of
Man. It is for them:-
1. To
watch at every season. Though He points out certain signs, at the
inception of which thay should look up and lift up
their heads, for the time of their redemption draweth nigh (Luke 21: 28) - there is never a time when they should not watch - signs or no
signs. For the signs
may go unnoticed, and we may easily misjudge our times. The only safety lies in watching always. (See Mark 13: 35-37).
2. Making
supplication. This, being a participle, shows that the
supplication is to go on during the constant watching. If they are to watch at every season, so must
they be making supplication at every season, constantly.
3. And for what this constant, urgent
prayer? That they may prevail to escape all the things that
are to come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. Both the escape, on the one hand, from the
calamities and judgment of that day and the privilege of being placed in front of the Son of man are here made contingent on watchfulness and prevailing prayer.
If
anyone asks how this harmonises with the widely held tenet of the eternal security of the believer and the doctrine of salvation by grace - I would be
far from detracting one whit from the plain face value of any of Gods precious
promises. But let me say this - that if
your faith in those promises sets your soul on fire to serve God, to work and
watch and pray, and to do all His good will gladly, then there is no doubt that
you have truly understood, and your faith in His gracious promises is having
its intended result and manifestation. But
if yours is a sort of pleasant fatalism
that tends to make you careless and easy-going, you have surely misunderstood
something somewhere. And you surely need the Lords warning.
Now
finally - when could this escape from the things that are coming upon the world
in that day and the translation to stand before the Son of man take place but at the time and occasion described by
our passage in Luke; but at a time before the Antichrists persecutions
commence. For that translation, let us
watch and make supplication always, that we may prevail to escape the things
that shall come upon the whole world; and be accounted
worthy of the
THE END