A Hidden Danger

The prosperity we enjoy in the West can obscure our view of reality. Why we need to be on guard against temptation in these last days.

“But watch yourselves…,” Jesus tells His disciples (Luke 21:34). You could also say, “Look out! Be careful!” It’s like a mountain guide stopping the group he’s been entrusted with before crossing a glacier. He demands their unconditional attention to his instructions and rules for behavior, so that an accident doesn’t occur due to carelessness or thoughtlessness.

Temptation is a sign of the last days. Jesus warns about this three times in Matthew 24. We can even categorize temptation as a major feature of the end times. Many people don’t take it seriously anymore. I’ve written about times of crisis, persecution, and other trials. It could be that we all focus so much on these things that haven’t yet happened, and have become blind to a completely different danger. We’re not even noticing that a mindset of preparation for the Lord’s unexpected coming is being lost.

“Watch out … Look out … Be careful,” our Lord expressly admonishes His disciples at the end of His message. And then He warns of the temptations and worries that come with a carefree life of prosperity, or one that strives for lightheartedness and self-indulgence.

Warren Wiersbe wrote the following in his book Be Resolute:

“I have participated in numerous prophetic conferences and heard a great deal of interpretation and some speculation, but I haven’t always heard personal and practical application. Some of the speakers talked a great deal about what God would do in the future, but they said very little about what He expected of His people in the present. An understanding of God’s plan imposes on the hearer the responsibility to do God’s will. To hear and understand the Word but not obey it is to deceive ourselves into thinking we have grown spiritually when we have actually moved backward (James 1:22-27).

“‘We can speak so glibly about the coming of our Lord and about the judgment seat of Christ,’ said William Culbertson, late president of Moody Bible Institute. ‘You do not truly hold the truth of the doctrine of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ until that doctrine holds you and influences your manner of living as the Bible says it should.’”

It is precisely this danger that our Lord wants to protect us from in this final warning from Luke 21:34.

No matter how much we discuss and speculate about the order of events or developments to come, we don’t even notice that we’re losing our everyday level of readiness, because our day-to-day life and our thinking are being defined by completely different things. As we read in the last portion of Matthew 6, concern for our future material security isn’t just a peril of the last days, but a peril of every generation. It’s actually a characteristic of Gentiles: “For the Gentiles seek after all these things…” (Matt 6:32).

In Luke, our Lord seizes on gluttony, drunkenness, and the cares of life as particular dangers to His disciples in the time leading up to His return. And in chapter 17, beginning in verse 26, He compares the time before His return with the days of Noah. People were only living for today. Their only concern was to enjoy life as much as possible. These days, it seems that the danger of temptation is grossly underestimated. We’d do well to take Jesus’ warning to heart.

It’s possible that we’re seeking out false teachings and doctrines, are well-versed in every possible (and impossible) prophetic future scenario, and are skilled debaters … but our daily lives are, in fact, dominated by concerns about our material well-being and enjoyment in life. Yes, maximizing our investment accounts and securing our standard of living are actually much more important to us than striving for God’s kingdom. Jesus speaks of the sudden coming of that day (the day of His return). He gave this admonition to His disciples, and I’m convinced of its importance for us and for myself, even though I firmly believe that the Rapture will occur before the visible second coming.

The Bible isn’t calling us to an ascetic life where pleasure is forbidden. But it’s a thin line between gratefully making use of the things that the Lord provides and makes possible, and having a heart weighed down by the cares of this life. This is especially true in a consumer society, which is constantly presenting us with tempting new products and choices that will allow us to enjoy life all the more. This is also a form of “drunkenness,” which isn’t just excessive consumption of alcohol or addictive substances. In principle, it’s a matter of an intoxicated state that affects our ability to function. In light of this, Gerhard Maier also adds passion for music, obsession with art or a collection, enjoyment of honors and awards, intellectual arrogance, nationalism, and ideologies. 

This isn’t by any means an exhaustive list, allowing us to breathe a self-righteous sigh of relief that these aren’t our particular drugs of choice. Everyone must examine himself to see where he is at risk of becoming completely absorbed or intoxicated. As I’ve said, all people are fundamentally in danger of their lives revolving around material worries about the future. But the danger of succumbing is especially great in our time, with all of its choices and offers. We’re brought up with an understanding that celebrations, experiences, happiness, and enjoyment—in whatever form—are crucial to our personal life. I’m well aware that things can change overnight. But there’s a great danger regarding followers of Jesus in the liberal West, losing themselves in a life that’s defined solely by this world’s everyday worries and concerns, even if we’re part of an outwardly conservative church. Then the Rapture can come upon us completely unexpectedly, and we’ll be horrified to realize how much we’ve been neglecting the most essential things, while allowing poor priorities to guide our thinking and lives—even as those who belong to Christ and are saved.

Constant Readiness
It would be interesting to see the practical results of all our discussions of end-time developments, and then compare them with what mattered most to Jesus. Whether at the latter part of His end-time discourse, in the parable of the ten virgins, or elsewhere (e.g., Luke 12), our Lord always calls us to personal vigilance and readiness. Without a doubt, we’re meant to be awakening and warning others as well, but these exhortations have always been about personal vigilance. When we’re ruled by this alertness, discussions about the timing of the Rapture or possible future developments become secondary. Vigilance has an impact on prayer. We’re constantly being led into proper alignment before our Lord through prayer. When we pray, His concerns become our own, His will our own, and His goals our own. Gerhard Maier makes another interesting point about prayer, writing:

“It doesn’t say ‘pray perpetually,’ but ‘pray in every period of time!’ That means: every step of the way in personal life and church life, as well as in every stage of Church history, whether the end seems near or far away to us.”

As I mentioned before, it’s a matter of having the proper inner alignment, and allowing ourselves to repeatedly receive something new from the Lord.

The prayer that Jesus taught His disciples has often helped me with this—not as something I memorized and can parrot without thought, but as an orientation for my personal prayer life and my concerns toward the Lord. Prayer is always the expression of a lively, intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus, making Him the most important thing.

What does Jesus mean when He speaks of escaping all the things that are going to happen, and standing before the Son of Man (Luke 21:36)? Is it about the Rapture of the Church prior to the judgment coming upon the world, as recorded in Revelation? It’s possible. No matter how we answer the question of the timing of the Rapture, humanity is headed toward God’s final judgment. The phrase, “to stand before the Son of Man,” on the other hand, refers to salvation from judgment. We’re worthy of this only through Jesus Christ and His gift of righteousness. But the phrase also refers to escaping everything that captivates, intoxicates, enslaves, and keeps humanity from seeing the most important goal in a person’s life and human history: where we will spend eternity. As children of God, we’ve been saved from the future judgment and wrath of God. Our Lord clearly said so in John 3:18. But will the perfection of the Church be shocking to us, as if we’ve overslept and missed an important appointment? Or joyful, because we’re now achieving our life’s goal in line with our discipleship, and what we’ve longed for has now become reality.

Midnight Call - 06/2025