Johan Malan, Mossel Bay, South Africa (September 2015)
All believers are called upon to lead vigilant, dedicated and fruitful lives under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, so as to be well prepared for the coming of the heavenly King who will also be their Judge and Bridegroom. Vigilance is the most important characteristic of a sound and dynamic life of faith. The Lord Jesus said:
“Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming – in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning – lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!” (Mark 13:33-37).
Jesus Christ emphasises the vital importance of spiritual vigilance to all His disciples of all ages. All of us are living in the same apostate world in which we should shine as lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation; all of us have been commissioned to proclaim the gospel of Christ to the ends of the earth; and all of us will appear before His judgement seat for the judging of our lives as disciples. With a view to these commitments and obligations we are all commanded to watch and pray to prevent us from becoming passive, losing our vision and diligence for the cause of the Lord, growing cold in our love and then lapsing into a powerless life of suffering defeats in the war against the enemy of our souls.
There are various aspects of spiritual vigilance which should be considered if we wish to ensure that we fully comply with them:
The Lord Jesus says that during His physical absence He gave His disciples authority to do their work. That promise refers to the power of the Holy Spirit through which they – and all of us – are enabled to be His witnesses and to work for Him, often under difficult circumstances: “Then He said to them, Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:46-49).
It is of the utmost importance that disciples of Christ are not only able to testify of the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit, but also of the filling with the Holy Spirit when He empowers them for service. Not all Christians are endued with power form on high, and because of that they cannot be successful disciples of Christ. Shortly before His ascension the Lord Jesus repeated this important promise: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
The power of the Spirit is not only needed to be able to work for Christ but also to successfully resist the enemy: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Eph. 6:10-11). This empowerment is done by the Holy Spirit but it is only practically experienced after He has gained full control of your life. You also have to make significant progress with your Bible study so that He can, through the Word, warn you against deception and guide you into all truth. It is an undeniable biblical fact that the work which the Lord assigned to His church is executed in a hostile environment, hence the important duty of the doorkeeper.
Have you already surrendered yourself to the Lord completely and trusted Him for the enduing with power from on high? That is the only way towards a life of fruitful service, victory over the enemy’s attacks, and perseverance in the spiritual battle which can often be very demanding. The urgency of this spiritual enduing is emphasised by the Lord Jesus in various other parables, as He wishes to avert a situation in which we would forfeit its full blessing through negligence:
In Luke 19:11-20 Jesus said:
“Therefore He said: A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, Do business till I come. But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. Then came the first, saying, Master, your mina has earned ten minas. And he said to him, Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities. And the second came, saying, Master, your mina has earned five minas. Likewise he said to him, You also be over five cities. Then another came, saying, Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief” (Luke 19:11-20).
The nobleman who travelled to a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, refers to Jesus Christ Himself. During His first coming He was a lowly Servant and Lamb of God who laid down His life as a ransom for the sins of the world, but at His second coming He will come as the King of kings to judge His enemies and rule over the world. Before His ascension He gave each of His disciples a mina to use in the extension of His kingdom on earth. This mina symbolises the enabling power of the Holy Spirit, and is only given to people who are already servants of Christ.
According to 1 Corinthians 8, each disciple will receive his own reward according to his own labour. That will be rewards of grace to the degree in which each of them has produced fruit which is worthy of repentance. Not all of them are equally committed to doing the work which the Lord has assigned to us, and for that reason some of them will receive more rewards, others less, while still others will receive nothing. Unfortunately, there are Christians who do not use this “mina” at all, put it away in a handkerchief and will return it to the Lord unused. They will stand before Him empty-handed, saved yet so as through fire (1 Cor. 3:13-15). The latter refers to a failed disciple who only occupied himself with his own things and had no vision for the cause of the Lord. To be ready for the coming of the Lord demands that you spiritually achieve God’s purpose with your life by also doing things that have value for eternity, thereby laying up treasures in heaven.
From this parable it is also evident that there are many people in society who are completely negative towards the Lord Jesus and the proclaiming of the gospel. They say: “We will not have this man to reign over us” (Luke 19:14). Servants of Christ should realise that they have to do their work in a hostile world in which only a minority of people will react positively to the gospel. The majority of them will love darkness rather than the light because their works are evil (John 3:19). Because of this situation, true disciples of Christ are strangers and sojourners in a world which lies in the sway of the Evil One (1 John 5:19).
During this dispensation we are not kings who are to proclaim a kingdom-now theology, but servants who are called upon to proclaim the gospel of grace. His kingdom will only be physically revealed on earth after He has returned as King and judged His enemies. Only then will we rule with Him as kings – not during the present dispensation!
The parable of the five wise and five foolish virgins in Matthews 25 also ties up with the one in Mark 13 on spiritual vigilance. From this parable it is evident that in the kingdom of heaven (in the Christian church) there are also many unsaved “believers” who even expect the coming of the heavenly Bridegroom but are not at all ready for this event. Their problem is clearly mentioned: “Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them” (Matt. 25:3). Oil is a well-known symbol of the Holy Spirit, and this group of Christ’s followers are embarking on the journey of life without the Holy Spirit. They are representative of the large group of nominal believers who only have a form of godliness as the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit is completely absent from their lives (2 Tim. 3:5).
It is indeed possible to confess Christ with your lips while your heart is cold and spiritually unchanged (Matt. 15:8). However, a Christian testimony of this nature does not last very long. When the expectation of the foolish virgins was not fulfilled and the night became very dark and cold, the faint light of their fleshly testimony started flickering and eventually went out. They discovered their need too late and were not ready for the coming of the Bridegroom. To them, the Lord will also say what He said to dead church in Sardis: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead” (Rev. 3:1). In the kingdom of heaven there is no future to unsaved believers who are only Christians in name, as they are definitely not ready for the coming of the Bridegroom during the midnight hour of the church dispensation.
The parable of the sower also refers to these church members who are spiritually dead: “But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles” (Matt. 13:20-21). These are the people who accept the Christian faith with joy, have themselves baptised to become covenant children who join one or other church, but they have no spiritual depth and no testimony of a true change of heart through rebirth. When the going gets tough and they are overcome by crises they completely lapse into doubt and despair. Their problem is that they never settled their case with the Lord and never received the testimony of the Holy Spirit in their hearts that they are saved (Rom. 8:16). They will inevitably remain behind when the Bridegroom comes for His bride.
The fact that the Lord Jesus gave His servants work to do and commanded the doorkeeper to watch, does not mean that certain servants have to do the basic work in His kingdom, while other servants only have to guard against dangers and hostile intruders. These two activities should be performed by all the servants. Every disciple should do everything possible to be a witness of the saving grace of Christ while, at the same time, also guarding against the attacks of the enemy. Those who only wish to be involved with the gospel without giving any attention to the struggle against the Evil One and all his plans of deception, will soon be the victims of spiritual deception and fleshly temptations. Every one of us must know what “the good fight of faith” is (1 Tim. 6:12), and fully realise the need of putting on the whole amour of God, that we may be able to stand against all the wiles of the devil (Eph. 6:11).
In the Old Testament there is a striking illustration of the simultaneous execution of the two commands to work for the Lord and to be watchful against the attacks of the enemy. After their return from the Babylonian exile, Israel had the big responsibility of rebuilding Jerusalem and the temple. However, their work was endangered by enemies who incessantly launched attacks on them while they were busy with construction work. Orders were then given by Nehemiah that they should be constantly on the alert: “Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon. Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built” (Neh. 4:17-18).
We are in the same situation and should always be able to fend off attacks on our person, on our social and economic interests, on the ministry which the Lord has entrusted to us, as well as countering attacks launched against the purity of the doctrines which we proclaim. We must ever be ready to oppose the lie while proclaiming the truth. If we wish to keep our way pure we must avert the subtle but false deviations which are offered to us – not only in the moral area but also doctrinally.
In the end-time, there is a tremendous increase in Satanically-inspired false doctrines: “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons” (1 Tim. 4:1). The biblical doctrine on the second coming is also severely attacked and distorted by denying key aspects of it. When the disciples asked Jesus about the signs of His second coming He singled out spiritual deception as the first and foremost sign: “Take heed that no one deceives you. … Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many” (Matt. 24:4, 11). The devil and his cohorts often disguise themselves as angels of light and pretend to be special messengers of Christ, thereby convincing the doorkeeper to open the door to them and invite them in (2 Cor. 11:13-15). They then use the opportunity to deceive Christians by false doctrines and render them untrue to the doctrine of Christ.
As part of the deception, false rumours will be spread on the second coming of Christ: “Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms!’ [possibly on TV?] do not believe it” (Matt. 24:26). These other claims refer to the revelation of the Antichrist. The Lord Jesus will come before the tribulation period like a thief in the night when nobody expects Him (Rev. 3:3; 16:15), and will then catch away His bride to her heavenly home. After the seven years of tribulation He will come in a highly dramatic way to reveal Himself in public. His coming will be as the lightning that comes from the east and flashes to the west, and every eye shall see Him (Rev. 1:7). He will not reveal Himself somewhere in the deserts of the Middle East, or in people’s inner rooms, but He will descend from heaven and set foot on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem (Zech. 14:4-5).
We can only be ready for the second coming if we truly know Christ, correctly understand all the promises on His coming, and also realise that we have to make spiritual preparations to appear before the heavenly Bridegroom in a worthy way. It is of no spiritual benefit to exploit the second coming for the sake of sensation, and to present all sorts of dubious signs and dates for Christ’s secret coming. The proverbial “foolish virgins” will remain behind – not because they didn’t expect the Bridegroom but because they were not spiritually properly prepared to meet Him.
Every Christian should ensure that the two basic commands with regard to readiness are heeded, i.e. firstly an active dedication to the service of the Lord, and secondly the skilful use of the Word as the sword of the Spirit so as to be able to identify and resist all forms of temptation and deception. All ideas and doctrines that are contrary to the Word should be actively resisted because they originate from the enemy. Have you taken up the shield of faith and the sword of the Word while serving the Lord in a hostile world?
It is obvious that vigilance with a view to the uninterrupted maintaining of a high Christian standard is an important key to faithfulness towards Christ. It is a vital disposition which produces alertness in the struggle against the Evil One, as well as readiness for the transition from our temporary earthly life to our eternal existence in heaven. Vigilance helps us to always focus on the Lord Jesus – not only with regard to His second coming but also to fulfil our daily need for cleansing from sin as well as power to gain victory in the struggle against evil (1 John. 1:7; 5:4). Paul says:
“[L]et us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb. 12:1-2). Our spiritual race will end when we see Him face to face – then faith will be consummated in seeing! In view of this meeting, all other considerations and commitments of our life are less important, particularly those that draw away our attention from our obligations in the service of the Lord. Fixing our eyes on Jesus also sharpens our sensitivity towards sin and helps us not to yield to temptations to sin during times of weakness.
We must remember that our life of faith should continually develop as we grow up to the stature of mature men and women in Christ (Eph. 4:13-14). If that does not happen we may stagnate and backslide spiritually. The promise of the second coming is meant to spur us on towards greater fruitfulness and holiness. There is a real danger that we may lose our spiritual perspective and sense of destination if we stop expecting the reality of Christ’s second coming, as well as the accountability which He will demand from us (Rom. 14:12). People who lose sight of Christ’s coming may easily become arrogant and spiritually distracted from their calling: “But if that evil servant says in his heart, My master is delaying his coming, and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will … appoint him his portion with the hypocrites” (Matt. 24:48-51).
It is not inevitable that all who ignore or forget the promise on the second coming will backslide into these extremes of apostatising, but negative results will nevertheless occur. In the parable on the ten virgins we read: “But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept” (Matt. 25:5). Even true believers can cause their expectation on the coming of the heavenly Bridegroom to grow dim, and that may give rise to passivity and even disinterest in the service of the Lord. They need to wake up and realise the seriousness of the situation, that opportunities to work for the Lord are passing. It is an indication of severe neglect on the side of the wise virgins that even they who know the Lord are slumbering while they should have watched and prayed.
The Lord Jesus wishes to avert a situation of this nature, and He does that by holding out the possibility of His sudden coming as a clarion call to His disciples: “Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming – in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning – lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!” (Mark 13:35-37). We should be awake, fruitful and vigilant, as the night of God’s judgement during the tribulation period is rapidly approaching, when the church dispensation will come to an end.
An active expectation of Christ’s coming does not only prompt increased service but also increased holiness. John says: “And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:3). Do not wait for other servants to awaken you and remind you to watch and pray. Behold the signs of the time and realise that it is high time to awake out of sleep. Dedicate yourself anew to the Lord and trust Him for a fresh enduing with power from on high. Resist the general tendency towards increased evil and proclaim the saving grace of Jesus Christ with greater zeal. The judgements of God upon a wicked world are inevitable and very near, but they may still be escaped by everyone who truly believes:
“But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:34-36). Sin and dark thoughts often get a hold on us if we allow the glad expectation of the Lord’s coming to grow dim in our hearts. Such people tend to forget the wonderful promises on His kingdom of righteousness which will be established on earth, they become blinded by the dark scenario of and end-time, apostate world, and easily lapse into sinful habits in an effort to forget the harsh reality around them. Backslidden Christians can forfeit their rewards of grace (2 John. v. 8), and in extreme cases even their faith (Heb. 3:12-14). Our faith should resolutely be built up (Jude v. 20) and not be weakened by sin and doubt.
However, true disciples of Jesus Christ are not compromisers and doubters who easily capitulate when the struggle become hectic, but are instead engaged in a process of increased holiness (Rev. 22:11). When the night is far spent the bright Morning Star (the Messiah – Rev. 22:16) will appear above a dark horizon to catch away His faithful followers to the ivory palace in heaven for the marriage of the Lamb (Ps. 45:8-9). Down on earth, the dark time of the Antichrist’s deception and reign of terror will dawn shortly afterwards. It was with reference to this time of trouble that the Lord Jesus commanded us to watch, pray, and be spiritually worthy to escape the coming hour of darkness and tribulation and to stand in heavenly glory before the Son of Man.