13And it shall turn to you for a testimony.
14Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer:
15For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.
16And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.
17And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.
We seen this before.
18But there shall not an hair of your head perish.
Notice how similiar this is to Matthew 24. Jesus starts with the destruction of the temple. Then tribulation. Then later on Great Tribulation.
19 In your patience possess ye your souls.
This as well we have seen.
20And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
21Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.
22For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
23But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.
24And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
25And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
26Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
27And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
Remember in Matthew 24 Jesus comes AFTER the Great Tribulation in power and great glory.
28And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
We are told that when these things (that Jesus just mentioned) come to pass, we are to look up, and know that our redemption is near. That Jesus is coming soon to get us. That, remember, will be AFTER the Great Tribulation, AFTER the tribulation of those days.
29And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;
30When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
31So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
32Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.
33Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
34And 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.
35For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
Jesus tells us to keep watch and be on the alert so we won't be unprepared for His return.
36Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
Escape what things? Many say to escape the Great Tribulation. However, if that were the case then why does Jesus come AFTER the Great Tribulation to gather up His children? Further why did Jesus tell us about it if we wouldn't even be here? Also Luke runs pretty much like Matthew: Temple destroyed, Tribulation, Great Tribulation, Jesus shows up, Angels pick up His children, etc. So likewise in Luke the same. Notice 25 through 27 mentions Jesus' Second Coming. Then some verses later Jesus tells us to pray we are worthy to escape all these things. If Jesus meant for us to pray to be raptured, He would have said it BEFORE He mentioned His Second Coming. However, He said it AFTER He mentioned His Second Coming.
Therefore, what does Jesus mean that we pray we are worthy to escape all these things and stand before the Son of Man? What are all these things?
I do not believe it means rapture because I first mentioned it is mentioned AFTER the Great Tribulation.
Further, I do not believe it is the rapture because Jesus said earlier In your patience possess ye your souls. Also in Matthew He said He that endureth unto the end the same shall be saved. Not he who endures until I rapture him.
A thought it could mean is that escape all these things and worthy to stand before the Son of Man is that we are found worthy to escape all these things. I believe these things are the wraths of God coming upon the Earth over the wicked.
I get that thought because first of all, and again, Jesus mentions His return AFTER the Great Tribulation. THEN He comes and the angels gather Christians. Second of all, because not everyone will be ready for Jesus. Remember how Jesus said that basically for us to keep watch and be alert? We need to pray that we are found worthy to stand before Him when He comes. If we are not ready and not prepared, then we will not be found worthy to stand before Him. If we are living in sin, we will not be worthy. We will be ashamed.
John 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
The Lord told us to not take heed and not be concerned with things of this life, etc. so that His Return does not take us unawares. So therefore, I think the these things refers back to that. That these things, those things (the surfeiting, the drunkenness, the cares of this world, being taken unawares, etc.) does not keep us from standing worthy before the Lord.
Notice I John 2:28 says that to abide in Him. Why? So that when Jesus appears we will have confidence and won't be ashamed before Him at His coming.
If we are taking part of the evil of this world and not preparing ourselves for the Coming of Jesus, we will not be ready and we will not be worthy to stand before Him. If we are living in this world and of this world, we will not be ready neither worthy. We HAVE to be ready. There is NO option.
Matthew 10:38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
If we are not willing to take up our crosses and suffer for Jesus and follow whole heartedly after Him being ready for Him and keeping a watchful eye, then we are not worthy of Him.
We need to prepare ourselves to face persecution and possible martyrdom. We need to seek the Lord God with all our hearts. We need to fall on our faces before Him and repent of any known sins. We need to serve and obey Jesus with all our hearts. We need to give the Lord Jesus all ourselves wholeheartedly. We need to prepare.
Finally let's take in account Jesus' own words in John 17:15I pray NOT that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. (Bold and caps mine.)
Jesus said it so Himself. I pray NOT that thou shouldest take them out of the world...