He also said to the multitudes, “Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it is. And when you see the south wind blow, you say, ‘There will be hot weather’; and there is. Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?” Luke 12:54–56 NKJV
The Christian does not look for events to happen, but he certainly does look at them when they do happen. Many of the events happening all around us in the world today speak of the soon-coming judgments. The time of God’s patience and longsuffering with an ungodly, Christ-rejecting world is fast drawing to a close. God will then prepare the scene for the glorious reign of Christ when all enemies will be made the footstool of His feet.
Now the question for each one of us is this: Are we discerning the times? Or are we as those whom the Lord here called hypocrites—knowledgeable and shrewd in everything except in understanding what God’s will is for us? Since we know that this world is soon to be judged, what manner of persons ought we to be? We should be walking not only in separation from it, but we should be found as positive witnesses to it.
We will not be here much longer. The coming of the Lord to take all true Christians out of this world is about to take place. We feel the need to be freshly stirred up and to live up to our true calling. If we are not presently living in the expectation of the coming of our Lord, it is because we have become lukewarm; our affections have been drawn elsewhere. How sad if when Christ comes He would find us in such a condition! Let us not sleep as others, for “Behold, the Bridegroom is coming; go out to meet Him!” (Mt. 25:6).
“It is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand” (Rom. 13:11–12).