Sermon - Populus Zion 2023 - Luke 21:25-36

A World in Perplexity, 1918

Jesus will come back on judgment day

1. The signs of the end

2. The world is filled with distress and copes with drunkenness

3. We however are awake and sober, since our redemption is drawing near

“And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” It’s interesting that Jesus is going to come in a cloud. Especially since God in the Old Testament appeared as a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night over the tabernacle. But clouds are also very humdrum, an everyday occurrence. It’s not a shock to go outside and see a cloud in the sky; don’t even think anything of it. But in spite of how common clouds are, isn’t it interesting that they still have a tendency to change our moods? I don’t know if you’re this way, but on cloudy days it’s not uncommon for me to have a headache and in general to have lower energy levels; it’s just a “blah” type of a day.

Yet, those common clouds are meant to be a sign that Jesus is returning! As a matter of fact, the signs of Jesus’ return are all around us. Earlier in Luke 21 Jesus said “Nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.” There hasn’t been a time in my life when our country hasn’t been involved in a foreign conflict in some capacity. Every year there is some big catastrophe somewhere, earthquakes, floods, fires, famines, diseases, you name it!  These are signs of the end!

Jesus said there would be “distress of nations in perplexity… people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world.” So many people are filled with distress, fear, and foreboding about any number of things. Lots of people are struggling emotionally. Again, this is a sign of the end!

But how do many people respond to all of these signs of the end? With “dissipation, and drunkenness, and cares of this life.” Drunkenness isn’t the only way that people cope with these signs, instead it’s representative of what many people do, and it should make us think of all of the other things people use to cope with these signs. People often get drunk because it’s a way of mentally escaping from their troubles. Their troubles don’t actually go away, and usually they end up worse when they’re drunk, but ignorance is bliss they say and for a moment the alcohol reduces their mental capacities so that they feel ignorant.

Drunkenness is a sin; God’s word is clear about that. But alcohol and other drugs aren’t the only sinful things we use to become “drunk” and ignorant of the signs. Eating too much food often has a similar effect of dulling the mind. Likewise, there are many other things that give immediate gratification, and result in a sort of mental drunkenness: watching entertainment in person or on a screen, pornography, using social media, and even good things like exercise and work can be used to drown out everything else.

But instead of pushing us toward drunkenness, these signs ought to cause us to be alert! Jesus says it again and again today! “Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near… So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near… 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.” 

Jesus tells us to be alert and prepared when we see the signs. Drunkenness is the precise opposite of being alert. So drunkenness is a very dangerous thing! Therefore Jesus says: ““But 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.” Think about this for a moment: what if Jesus came back when you were drunk? Or when you were otherwise “drunk” on the cares of this life? Don’t just dismiss it, thinking it doesn’t matter, because that’s the example Jesus is using today. He uses it as a warning to wake us up. If we’re wallowing in our sins and Jesus comes back, what’s gonna happen to us?

Malachi says what will happen to those unprepared for Jesus to return: “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.” Those people who are so arrogant to think that they know better than God, that they can live as they choose, in rebellion to God’s clear Word, will be burned up! They will be judged and found wanting and condemned to hell. There is nothing pretty about this.

For you see, God is a consuming fire, He is the Sun of righteousness. God in the Old Testament appeared as a cloud by day and fire by night. He appeared as fire in the burning bush. When Jesus was transfigured on the mount He shone bright like the sun. God’s righteousness burns up those who haven’t already been cleansed of their evil and justified by Jesus’ blood. There is only a judgment of never ending fire for those without Christ’s righteousness.

“But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the LORD of hosts.” For you who are prepared for Jesus to return, the final day isn’t something to fear but something to anticipate with joy! That day all of the miseries and distress of this life will be gone.

Jesus’ arrival is likened to the sun coming out after a gloomy cloudy day. “The Son of Man is coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” Think of it like this: from below all we can see is a gloomy old cloud, but above the cloud is the sun. So too for now all we can see is the gloomy clouds of this life, the signs of the end, but when the clouds part the S-o-n of Righteousness shall descend from the heavens with power and great glory! It’s like the fig tree, and during winter it looks dead, but when summer comes it grows again. Likewise, the signs of the end make it look like winter, like everything is dead and doomed, like everything is going to hell in a handbasket, but when Jesus returns the bitterly cold winter of this life shall be changed to summer! Instead of solemnly standing alert, we will be like spring calves leaping from the stall!

Thus, all of these gloomy things around us are to be like signs of the end to us. When we see the reports of how bad mental illness is right now, or we see all of the drunk worldly people, we should see it as a sign that Jesus is coming back soon. Whenever there are wars, natural disasters, and diseases, we should see them as signs of the end! Whenever we see a budding tree, a leaping calf, or a cloud in the sky, we should be reminded that these are signs and Jesus is coming soon! Even the most ordinary humdrum everyday occurrences are given to us as signs from God that He’s coming back soon. Everybody wants a sign that God is real and that He loves them and is coming back for them; so He gave us signs all over the place and told us about the signs, and here we sit complaining that He doesn’t give us a sign. So the next time you hear some bad news or look up in the sky and see a cloud, remember that those are signs from God. He gives them to you so that you might straighten up and get ready for Him to come.

Don’t be afraid of the signs, remember “heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” So long as His word dwells in you, neither will you pass away with all of the frightening signs around you. Be alert, be prepared, pray that you might have the strength to escape all of these things that are taking place and stand before the Son of Man! The signs of Jesus’ return are all around you. He will come and take you out of this veil of tears and to Himself in paradise. His blood has already cleansed you, salvation is already yours. So straighten up! Raise your heads! What a great time to be alive! Your redemption is drawing near!