J.C. Ryle's devotional thoughts on the Gospel of Luke, section 125. Watch and pray. Luke chapter 21, verses 34 through 38.

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 you therefore, and pray always that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.

And in the daytime he was teaching in the temple, and at night he went out and abode in the mount that is called the Mount of Olives. And all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple for to hear him.

These verses form the practical conclusion of our Lord Jesus Christ's great prophetic discourse. They supply a striking answer to those who condemn the study of unfulfilled prophecy as speculative and unprofitable. It would be difficult to find a passage more practical, direct, plain, and heart-searching than that which is now before our eyes.

Let us learn from these verses the spiritual danger to which even the holiest believers are exposed in this world. Our Lord says to his disciples, Watch out, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly, like a trap. These words are exceedingly startling. They were not addressed to carnal-minded Pharisees, or sceptical Sadducees, or worldly Herodians. They were addressed to Peter, James, and John, and the whole company of the Apostles. They were addressed to men who had given up everything for Christ's sake, and had proved the reality of their faith by loving obedience and steady adhesion to their Master. Yet even to them our Lord holds out the peril of carousing and drunkenness and worldliness. Even to them He says, Watch out!

The exhortation before us should teach us the immense importance of humility. There is no sin so great, but a great saint may fall into it. There is no saint so great, but he may fall into great sin. Noah escaped the pollutions of the world before the flood, and yet he was afterwards overtaken by drunkenness. Abraham was the father of the faithful, and yet through unbelief he said falsely that Sarah was his sister. Lot did not take part in the horrible wickedness of Sodom, and yet he afterwards fell into foul sin in the cave. Moses was the meekest man on earth, and yet he so lost self-control that he spoke angrily and unadvisedly. David was a man after God's own heart, and yet he plunged into most heinous adultery.

These examples are all deeply instructive. They all show the wisdom of our Lord's warning in the passage before us. They teach us to be clothed with humility. Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

1 Peter 5.5
1 Corinthians 10.12

The exhortation before us should teach us the great importance of an unworldly spirit. The cares of this life are placed side by side with carousing and drunkenness. Excess in eating and drinking is not the only excess which injures the soul. There is an excessive anxiety about the innocent things of this life. which are just as ruinous to our spiritual prosperity and just as poisonous to the soul. Never, never let us forget that we may make spiritual shipwreck on lawful things, as really and truly as on open vices. Happy is he who's learned to hold the things of this world with a loose hand, and to believe that seeking first the kingdom of God, all other things shall be added to him. Matthew chapter six, verse 33.

let us learn secondly from these verses the exceeding suddenness of our Lord's second coming we read that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap it will come as a trap falling suddenly on an animal and catching it in the moment as the lightning flash shining suddenly in the sky before the thunder is heard as a thief coming suddenly in the night and not giving notice that he will come So sudden, so instantaneous will the second coming of the Son of Man be.

The precise date of our Lord Jesus Christ's return to this world has been purposely withheld from us by God. Of that day and hour no man knows. On one point, however, all the teaching of Scripture about it is clear and unmistakable. Whenever it shall take place, it will be a most sudden and unexpected event. The business of the world will be going on as usual, as in the days of Sodom and the days before the flood. Men shall be eating and drinking, marrying and given in marriage. Few, even among true believers, shall be found completely alive to the great fact, and living in a state of thorough expectation.

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, The whole course of the world shall be stopped. The King of Kings shall appear, the dead shall be raised, The living shall be changed, unbelief shall wither away, Truth shall be known too late by myriads. The world with all its trifles and shadows shall be thrust aside, Eternity with all its solemn realities shall begin, All this shall begin at once, without notice, without warning, without note of preparation.

That day will close on you, unexpectedly, like a trap. The servant of God must surely see that there is only one state of mind which befits the man who believes these things. That state is one of perpetual preparedness to meet Christ. The gospel does not call us to retire from earthly callings or neglect the duties of our stations. It does not bid us to retire into hermitages or to live the life of a monk or a nun, but it does bid us to live like men who expect their Lord to return. Repentance toward God Faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ and holiness of conduct are the only true habitual preparations required. The Christian who knows these things by experience is the man who's always ready to meet his Lord.

Let us learn, lastly from these verses, the special duties of believers in the prospect of the second coming of Christ. Our Lord sums up these duties under two great heads. One of these two is watchfulness, and the other is prayer. Watch, therefore, he says, and pray always.

We are to watch. We are to live on our guard like men in an enemy's country. We are to remember that evil is about us and near us and in us, that we have to contend daily with a treacherous heart, an ensnaring world, and a busy devil. Remembering this, we must put on the whole armor of God and beware of spiritual drowsiness. Let us not sleep as others do, says Paul, but let us watch and be sober. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 6

We are to pray always. We are to keep up a constant habit of real, sincere prayer. We are to speak with God daily and hold daily communion with Him about our souls. We are to pray, especially for grace, to lay aside every weight and to cast away everything which may interfere with readiness to meet our Lord. Above all, we are to watch our habits of devotion with a godly jealousy and beware of hurrying over or shortening our prayers.

Let us leave the whole passage with a hearty determination, by God's help, to act on what we have been reading. If we believe that Christ is coming again, then let us get ready to meet him. If we know these things, happy are we if we do them. John chapter 13, verse 17.