There’s a heaviness in the air that many of us can feel. You don’t need to be a prophet to sense that something is shifting in our world. The Bible tells us that Jesus didn’t just warn us about what would happen in the last days. He also warned us about where we should and shouldn’t be when those days arrive. And friends, I believe those warnings are more relevant now than ever before.

Today we’re going to walk through seven specific places Jesus cautioned us about. Places that could become spiritual traps when the world turns dark overnight. This isn’t about fear. This is about preparation. This is about wisdom. This is about hearing the voice of our shepherd and following him even when the path seems unclear to everyone else around us.

These warnings are found throughout the gospels, woven into Jesus’s teaching about the end times, embedded in his parables and spoken directly to his disciples. And they weren’t just for those who heard him 2,000 years ago. They’re for us right here, right now, living in what I believe are the final moments before everything changes.

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Now, let’s get into these critical warnings that Jesus gave us. Warnings that could very well determine where we stand when everything around us begins to crumble.

The first place Jesus warned us not to be is in the field. Now you might be thinking, what’s wrong with a field? In Matthew 24:40, Jesus says, “Then two men will be in the field. One will be taken and the other left.”

This isn’t just about agriculture or farmland. The field in biblical language represents our work, our daily labor, our earthly pursuits, our vocational endeavors, everything we do to earn a living and build a life in this world. Jesus is warning us about being so consumed with our earthly responsibilities that we miss the signs of his coming.

The field is the place of distraction. The place where we can become so focused on providing, on building, on achieving that we forget to look up. It’s the place where we get so caught up in the urgent that we neglect the eternal. It’s where we invest all our time, all our energy, all our creativity into things that will ultimately pᴀss away while ignoring the things that will last forever.

Think about your own life for a moment. How much of your time, your energy, your mental space is consumed by work, by career advancement, by financial security, by building your business, climbing the corporate ladder, establishing your professional reputation.

These aren’t bad things in themselves. In fact, the Bible tells us that if anyone doesn’t provide for his own household, he’s worse than an unbeliever. God values work. He values diligence. He values responsibility. Paul worked as a tent maker even while he was doing ministry. So work itself isn’t the problem.

The problem is when work becomes our master instead of our servant. The problem is when our idenтιтy becomes so wrapped up in what we do that we forget whose we are. The problem is when we’re so busy in the field that we have no time for prayer, no time for God’s word, no time for worship, no time for fellowship with other believers, no time for ministry, no time to be still and know that he is God.

Jesus is warning us that in the last days, being too deeply rooted in the field, too invested in earthly systems could leave us unprepared for what’s coming. When the world turns dark overnight, those who are entirely dependent on their jobs, their salaries, their earthly security will find themselves in a desperate place.

Because here’s the thing about the field. It’s controlled by the world’s systems. Your job is part of an economic system that could collapse. Your salary is dependent on a company that could fail. Your retirement is tied to markets that could crash. Your security is built on foundations that are ultimately shaky. And if that’s where all your trust is, if that’s where all your time and energy are invested, what happens when it all falls apart?

The field represents trust in human systems rather than trust in God. It represents the person who says, “I’ll seek God when I have more time, when I’ve built my career, when I’ve secured my retirement, when the kids are grown, when things settle down.”

But Jesus is saying, “Don’t be in the field when I return. Don’t be so consumed with temporal things that you miss eternal realities. Don’t be so focused on earthly security that you neglect heavenly treasure.

The field is a place of false security. It makes you feel safe because you’re working, you’re productive, you’re doing what society tells you to do, you look successful, you’re providing for your family, you’re building something. But when the systems collapse, when the economy fails, when the world as we know it begins to unravel, the field will offer no protection. Your job тιтle won’t save you. Your bank account won’t deliver you. Your professional achievements won’t sustain you.

I want you to think about something. In the parable of the sewer that Jesus told, one of the seeds fell among thorns. And Jesus explained that the thorns represent the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth. These things choke out the word of God in a person’s life so that it becomes unfruitful.

That’s what the field can do to us spiritually. The constant pressure to perform, to produce, to earn, to advance, it chokes out the word of God. The worries about making enough money, about keeping your job, about providing for your future, they crowd out space for God. The deceitfulness of wealth, the lie that if you just make a little more money, you’ll finally feel secure, keeps you running on a treadmill that never ends.

And before you know it, years have pᴀssed, and you’ve been so busy in the field that your spiritual life has withered. You still go to church occasionally. You still pray quick prayers. You still call yourself a Christian, but there’s no depth. There’s no power. There’s no genuine intimacy with God. The field has consumed you.

Jesus is calling us to a different posture. He’s calling us to work, yes, but to work with loose hands. To provide, yes, but to trust him as our ultimate provider, to be faithful in our earthly responsibilities, absolutely, but never to let those responsibilities become our God.

He’s calling us to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, trusting that all these other things will be added to us. He’s calling us to store up treasures in heaven, not on earth. He’s calling us to serve God, not money.

The question you need to ask yourself today is this. If everything you’re working toward disappeared tomorrow, would your faith survive? If your job was gone, your savings were worthless, your plans were shattered, would you still trust God? Or have you been living in the field so long that you’ve forgotten where your true security comes from? Have you been so focused on building your earthly kingdom that you’ve neglected God’s kingdom? Have you been so consumed with providing temporal security for yourself and your family that you’ve failed to invest in eternal security?

And here’s another layer to this warning. The field also represents being so integrated into the world’s systems that you can’t imagine living any other way. It’s the person who can’t conceive of God calling them to leave their job and go into full-time ministry because they’re so dependent on their salary. It’s the person who can’t imagine simplifying their lifestyle and living on less because they’ve become accustomed to a certain standard of living. It’s the person who can’t respond to God’s leading to move to a different location or change careers because they’re so established in their current situation.

They’re in the field and the field has them trapped. Their whole life is built around their work. Their idenтιтy comes from their career. Their sense of worth comes from their achievements. Their security comes from their income. And they can’t imagine any other way to live. So when God calls them to step out in faith, to take a risk, to trust him in a new way, they can’t do it. They’re stuck in the field.

Let me tell you about the rich young ruler. He came to Jesus asking what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus told him to sell everything he had, give to the poor, and follow him. And the Bible says the young man went away sad because he had great wealth. He was in the field and he couldn’t leave. His possessions, his wealth, his earthly security meant more to him than following Jesus. And tragically, he walked away from eternal life because he couldn’t let go of temporal things.

Don’t let that be your story. Don’t be so invested in the field that when Jesus calls you to follow him more radically, you can’t do it. Don’t be so dependent on earthly systems that you’re trapped, unable to respond to God’s leading.

Because I believe in the days ahead, God is going to call many of his people to leave the field. He’s going to call them to step away from careers that are consuming them. He’s going to call them to simplify, to downsize, to let go of the pursuit of more and more and more. He’s going to call them to invest their time and energy in kingdom work instead of in building earthly kingdoms.

And those who can’t respond, those who are too attached to the field, they’re going to miss what God is doing. They’re going to be left behind spiritually, even if they’re still physically present.

So, what does it look like practically to get out of the field?

It means making God your first priority, not your career. It means starting your day with him before you dive into work. It means ending your day with him instead of collapsing exhausted in front of a screen. It means taking a Sabbath rest, actually resting one day a week and trusting that God will provide even when you’re not working.

It means being willing to take a lower paying job if it allows you more time for God and family. It means being willing to downsize your lifestyle if it means less stress and more margin for the things that truly matter.

It means holding your career with an open hand, willing to change directions if God calls you to. It means investing in eternal things, not just earthly things. It means asking yourself regularly, am I building God’s kingdom or just my own? It means being willing to look foolish to the world if it means being faithful to God.

Because here’s the truth. When the world turns dark overnight, your career won’t save you. Your bank account won’t deliver you. Your earthly achievements won’t sustain you. Only your relationship with God will matter. Only your investment in his kingdom will have lasting value. Only your trust in him will carry you through.

So get out of the field. Stop being so consumed with earthly pursuits that you have no time for eternal things. Yes, work hard. Yes, be responsible, but hold it all loosely. Make space for God. Prioritize the kingdom. Remember that your true treasure is in heaven, not on earth.

The second place Jesus warned us about is at the mill. In that same pᴀssage, Matthew 24:41, Jesus says, “Two women will be grinding at the mill. One will be taken and the other left.”

The mill in ancient times was where grain was ground to make flour, to make bread, to sustain daily life. It was essential work, necessary work. But it was also repeтιтive, monotonous, routine work. Day after day, the same motion, the same activity, the same result. And this is what the mill represents spiritually. Routine, the mundane, the repeтιтive patterns we fall into, the spiritual habits that have lost their life and become merely religious exercises.

Jesus is warning us about being so caught up in the routines of life in the daily grind both literally and spiritually that we become numb. The mill is the place of autopilot where we go through the motions without really thinking, without really feeling, without really connecting with God.

How many of us are at the mill right now in our spiritual lives? We go to church because that’s what we do on Sunday. It’s our routine, our habit, our pattern. We’ve been going to the same church, sitting in the same pew, singing the same songs, hearing the same types of messages for years. And somewhere along the way, it stopped being a genuine encounter with God, and became just something we do.

We pray before meals because that’s the routine. We bow our heads, say a quick blessing over the food, maybe thank God for the day, and that’s it. Prayer has become a ritual rather than a conversation with our father.

We read a Bible verse in the morning because that’s our habit. We have a devotional book or a Bible app that gives us a verse of the day and we read it while we’re drinking our coffee and then we move on with our day. The word of God has become just another item on our morning checklist rather than living active truth that transforms us.

But there’s no fire, there’s no pᴀssion, there’s no genuine encounter with the living God. It’s just routine. It’s just grinding away day after day, week after week, year after year, going through the same spiritual motions without any real life in them.

And Jesus is warning us that this is a dangerous place to be when the world turns dark. Because when crisis comes, when persecution rises, when everything starts falling apart, routine faith won’t sustain you, habitual religion won’t carry you through. You need a living, breathing, active relationship with Jesus Christ. You need a faith that’s vibrant and real, not stale and wrote. You need a connection with God that goes beyond external religious practices and touches the core of who you are.

The mill represents the kind of Christianity that looks good on the outside but has no power on the inside. It’s the faith that’s comfortable, predictable, safe. It never challenges you, never stretches you, never demands anything radical from you. You know exactly what to expect. Sunday mornings follow the same pattern. Your quiet time follows the same routine. Your Christian life follows the same predictable path.

And because it’s all so familiar, you think everything is fine. You think you’re doing well spiritually because you’re doing all the right things, checking all the right boxes, following all the right routines.

But Jesus is saying this is dangerous. This is a place you don’t want to be when the world turns dark. Because routine religion is powerless in the face of real crisis. It crumbles when genuine persecution comes. It fails when you need actual supernatural strength to endure. You just keep grinding, keep going through the motions, keep doing what you’ve always done.

But friends, Jesus didn’t die on the cross so we could live a routine religious life. He didn’t shed his blood so we could have comfortable, predictable Christianity. He didn’t rise from the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ so we could go through spiritual motions without any real transformation. He died so we could have abundant life, supernatural life, transformed life. He died so we could know him, really know him in an intimate, personal, powerful way. He died so his spirit could dwell in us and work through us with resurrection power.

And if we’re stuck at the mill, grinding away in our comfortable patterns, we’re going to miss what God is doing. We’re going to miss the move of his spirit. We’re going to miss the preparation he’s trying to work in us for what’s ahead.

Think about the church at Leodysa in Revelation 3. Jesus said to them, “I know your deeds that you are neither cold nor H๏τ. I wish you were either one or the other. So because you are lukewarm, neither H๏τ nor cold. I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”

That’s the mill. That’s routine lukewarm Christianity. Not cold, not against God, but not H๏τ either, not on fire for him, just lukewarm, just going through the motions, just maintaining a comfortable religious routine. And Jesus finds it repulsive. He would rather we be cold, completely away from him than lukewarm, pretending to follow him while having no real pᴀssion or commitment.

The mill produces lukewarm believers who think they’re fine because they’re doing all the religious activities they’ve always done, but their hearts are far from God.

When the world turns dark overnight, those at the mill will be caught completely off guard because they’ve been spiritually asleep even while going through religious motions. They’ve been grinding away following their routines, but their hearts have been far from God. They’ve been so focused on the external practices of religion that they’ve missed the internal reality of relationship. And when crisis hits, when their faith is tested, when they need genuine power from God to stand firm, they’ll discover they don’t have it. Their routine won’t be enough. Their habits won’t sustain them. Their religious activities won’t save them because they never moved beyond the mill, beyond the routine, beyond the external practices to actually encounter the living God.

I remember a season in my own life where I realized I was at the mill. I was doing all the right things externally. I was reading my Bible every day, praying regularly, going to church, serving in ministry. But it had all become routine. I was going through the motions, but there was no fire.

I remember one morning during my quiet time, I suddenly realized I had just read an entire chapter of the Bible without processing a single word. My eyes had moved over the text, but my mind had been somewhere else entirely. I was just checking off my Bible reading for the day. And the Holy Spirit convicted me right there. He showed me that I had turned my relationship with him into a religious routine and I needed to break out of it. I needed fresh fire. I needed genuine encounter. I needed to stop grinding at the mill and start seeking his face with desperation.

And that’s what I’m calling you to today. Don’t be at the mill when Jesus returns. Don’t let your faith become routine. Don’t let your relationship with God become just another thing you do out of habit. Don’t settle for going through religious motions when God wants to give you genuine spiritual life.

Stir up the fire. Seek his face with desperation. Break out of the routine and pursue him with everything you have. Because the days ahead will require a living faith, not a ᴅᴇᴀᴅ routine. They will demand genuine relationship with God, not just religious practices. They will need believers who have encountered the living Christ, not just followed Christian traditions.

What does it look like to get off the mill? It means disrupting your spiritual routines when they’ve become lifeless. It means changing how you pray, where you pray, when you pray, so that prayer becomes fresh again instead of just repeтιтion. It means reading scripture differently, maybe choosing a different translation, studying different books, using different methods, asking God to speak to you freshly through his word instead of just reading familiar pᴀssages out of habit.

It means seeking new expressions of worship, new ways to connect with God, new spiritual practices that challenge you and awaken hunger in your heart. It means being willing to be uncomfortable in your faith, to try new things, to step out of familiar patterns.

It means crying out to God for fresh fire, for renewed pᴀssion, for genuine encounter with him. It means refusing to settle for lukewarm, routine Christianity, and pursuing the abundant, powerful, transformed life Jesus died to give you.

The mill is comfortable, but it’s ᴅᴇᴀᴅly. It lulls you into thinking everything is fine while your spiritual life slowly dies. Don’t stay there. Get off the mill. Pursue the living God with fresh hunger and desperation. Because when the world turns dark, you’re going to need living faith to survive and thrive.

The third place Jesus warned us not to be is in our bed. Luke 17:34 says, “I tell you, on that night, two people will be in one bed. One will be taken and the other will be left.”

The bed represents sleep, rest, comfort, and most significantly, spiritual slumber. Throughout scripture, Jesus repeatedly warned about being spiritually asleep when he returns. He told parables about servants who fell asleep while waiting for their master. He rebuked his disciples in the garden of Gethsemane for sleeping when they should have been praying with him. He told them that the spirit was willing but the flesh was weak.

And here he’s warning us not to be in bed, not to be in a state of spiritual sleep when the world turns dark.

This is one of the most urgent warnings Jesus gave us because spiritual sleep is one of the most dangerous conditions a believer can be in. Think about what sleep represents spiritually. It’s unawareness. It’s being unconscious to what’s happening around you. It’s being vulnerable, unguarded, unprepared. When you’re asleep, you can’t see danger coming. You can’t respond to threats. You can’t take action when action is needed. You’re completely defenseless and unaware.

And isn’t this exactly what we see in the church today? So many believers are spiritually asleep. They’re unaware of the times we’re living in. They’re unconscious to the spiritual battles raging around them. They’re unprepared for what’s coming because they’ve chosen comfort over vigilance, ease over readiness, sleep over watchfulness.

The bed is appealing, isn’t it? It’s comfortable. It’s where we feel safe and relaxed. It’s where we let our guard down completely. It’s where we rest from all our labors and just enjoy being comfortable. And that’s exactly what makes it so dangerous spiritually. When we’re too comfortable in our Christianity, when our faith doesn’t cost us anything, when we’re not facing any opposition or persecution, when we’re not being challenged or stretched, it’s easy to fall asleep spiritually. It’s easy to stop watching, stop praying, stop preparing. It’s easy to think that because everything seems fine right now, everything will always be fine. It’s easy to ᴀssume that because we’re comfortable and secure today, we’ll be comfortable and secure tomorrow.

But that’s the deception of the bed. It makes you think you’re safe when you’re actually vulnerable.

Jesus told us in Matthew 26:41 to watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. The flesh loves the bed. The flesh loves comfort and ease. The flesh wants to relax, to let down its guard, to stop being vigilant. The flesh says, “You’ve worked hard. You deserve to rest. You’ve been faithful. You’ve earned the right to be comfortable. You don’t need to be so intense, so serious, so watchful all the time. Just relax. Just enjoy life. Just be comfortable.

But the spirit knows we need to be awake, alert, ready. The spirit knows that we’re in a war, that the enemy prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour, that we need to be self-controlled and alert. The spirit knows that these are dangerous times, that we’re living in the last days, that we need to be watching and ready for the Lord’s return.

In the book of Romans 13 11 and 12, Paul writes, “And do this understanding the present time. The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.” The night is nearly over. The day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

Friends, it’s time to wake up. It’s time to get out of bed spiritually. The world is turning dark and we can’t afford to be caught sleeping. Paul wrote those words 2,000 years ago. And if our salvation was near then, how much nearer is it now? If the day was almost here, then how much closer must we be now? The time for spiritual sleep is over. The time for comfortable, easy Christianity is pᴀssed. The hour has come to wake up, to be alert, to be ready.

What does it look like practically to be in bed spiritually?

It looks like being more concerned about your physical comfort than your spiritual condition. It looks like avoiding anything that challenges or confronts you in your faith. It looks like turning away from hard truths because they disturb your peace. It looks like refusing to engage in spiritual disciplines like fasting, extended prayer, or serious Bible study because they’re too demanding, too difficult, too uncomfortable.

It looks like being so entertained by the world that you have no time or energy for the things of God. It looks like choosing leisure and pleasure over sacrifice and service. It looks like being so comfortable in your Christian life that you never feel stretched, never feel challenged, never feel the need to press in harder to God.

It looks like being oblivious to what’s happening in the world around you. You don’t pay attention to current events. You don’t understand the signs of the times. You don’t see how biblical prophecy is being fulfilled right before your eyes. You’re just living your comfortable Christian life, going to church on Sunday, being a generally moral person, and ᴀssuming everything will be fine. You’re asleep to the spiritual realities. You’re unconscious to the lateness of the hour. You’re unaware of the danger that’s coming.

And when crisis hits, when persecution comes, when the world turns dark overnight, you’re going to be completely unprepared because you were asleep when you should have been watching.

Jesus told several parables about this very thing. In Matthew 25, he told the parable of the 10 virgins. Five were wise and five were foolish. They were all waiting for the bridegroom to come. But while he was delayed, all 10 of them fell asleep. When the cry came at midnight that the bridegroom was arriving, they all woke up. But the five foolish virgins discovered their lamps had gone out because they hadn’t brought extra oil. They scrambled to try to buy more oil, but while they were gone, the bridegroom came, the five wise virgins went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut. When the foolish virgins finally arrived and begged to be let in, the bridegroom said, “Truly, I tell you, I don’t know you.”

And Jesus concluded the parable by saying, “Therefore, keep watch because you do not know the day or the hour.”

This parable is a warning about spiritual sleep. All 10 virgins fell asleep while waiting. But five of them had prepared before they slept. They had extra oil. They were ready even in their sleep. The other five were unprepared, and their sleep cost them everything. When the critical moment came, they weren’t ready. They had to scramble to try to prepare, but it was too late. The door was shut. They were left outside and the sobering words of the bridegroom were, “I don’t know you.”

Jesus is warning us, “Don’t be like the foolish virgins.” Don’t be so spiritually asleep, so unprepared that when the critical moment comes, you’re not ready. Keep watch, stay alert, be prepared, have oil in your lamp, because you don’t know the day or the hour when the bridegroom will come.

Another parable Jesus told was about a master who went on a journey and left his servants in charge of his house. Some servants were faithful and watchful, ready for the master’s return at any time. But one servant said to himself, “My master is staying away a long time,” and he began to beat the other servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master came back at an hour when the servant didn’t expect him and found him doing these things. Jesus said the master would cut him to pieces and ᴀssign him a place with the hypocrites.

Again, the warning is clear. Don’t fall asleep spiritually. Don’t ᴀssume you have plenty of time. Don’t become complacent. Stay watchful. Stay ready because the master will return at an hour you don’t expect.

These parables aren’t meant to scare us into paranoia. They’re meant to keep us spiritually awake and ready. They’re meant to prevent us from falling into the comfort and complacency that leads to spiritual sleep.

Because spiritual sleep is dangerous. It makes you vulnerable. It makes you unprepared. It leaves you shocked and scrambling when crisis comes instead of standing firm and ready. Jesus is warning us, don’t be in bed when I return. Don’t be caught sleeping while the world falls apart around you. Wake up. Open your eyes. see what’s happening. Prepare your heart. Strengthen your faith. Be watchful and alert. Be ready at all times for the Lord’s return and for the trials that will precede it because those who are sleeping will be swept away by the darkness. But those who are awake will be ready to shine as lights in the darkest night.

So, how do we wake up from spiritual sleep? How do we get out of bed?

It starts with recognizing that we’ve been asleep. It starts with admitting that we’ve been too comfortable, too complacent, too focused on ease and pleasure. It means making a deliberate choice to prioritize vigilance over comfort. It means choosing to stay alert even when it’s difficult, even when you’re tired, even when you’d rather just relax.

It means engaging in spiritual disciplines that keep you sharp and awake. Extended times of prayer, fasting, deep study of God’s word, especially prophetic scripture, fellowship with other watchful believers who will help keep you alert, paying attention to world events through a biblical lens, understanding the signs of the times, recognizing how current events align with biblical prophecy.

It means living with urgency, understanding that time is short and we need to be about our father’s business. It means investing your life in things that have eternal value instead of wasting it on temporary pleasures and comforts.

It means being willing to be uncomfortable, to sacrifice, to deny yourself, to take up your cross daily and follow Jesus. Because the life of a disciple isn’t a life of ease and comfort. It’s a life of watchfulness and readiness. It’s a life of spiritual alertness and vigilance.

And that’s what Jesus is calling us to. Not a comfortable Christianity where we’re spiritually asleep in our beds of ease, but a vibrant, alert, watchful faith where we’re ready at all times for whatever God calls us to do and for whenever Jesus returns.

The fourth place Jesus warned us about is in our house. In Matthew 24:17, Jesus says, “Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house.” In verse 18, he continues, “Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak.”

These verses are about attachment to our possessions, our homes, our stuff. The house represents our material security, our physical comfort, our earthly attachments, everything we’ve accumulated and built in this world.

And Jesus is warning us not to be so attached to these things that we can’t let go when we need to. He’s warning us that when crisis comes, when you need to move quickly, when God calls you to leave everything behind, your attachment to your house, to your possessions, to your material security could cost you everything.

This warning is particularly relevant for those of us living in wealthy nations where we’ve accumulated so much. We have houses filled with possessions we’ve collected over the years. We have garages filled with vehicles, tools, equipment, recreational toys. We have storage units filled with things we don’t even use but can’t bring ourselves to get rid of. We have closets stuffed with clothes we rarely wear. We have attics and basement filled with boxes of stuff we’ve been saving for reasons we can’t even remember.

And somewhere along the way, instead of us owning our possessions, our possessions have begun to own us. We spend our time maintaining them, organizing them, protecting them, ensuring them, worrying about them. We work long hours to pay for them, to buy more of them, to upgrade them. Our houses have become storage facilities for all the stuff we’ve accumulated, and we’ve become slaves to it all.

Jesus is saying that when the world turns dark, when persecution comes, when you need to move quickly in obedience to God, your attachment to your house, to your stuff, to your material security could cost you everything. Don’t go back for your cloak. Don’t try to salvage your possessions. Don’t let your love for your house keep you from following God.

Don’t be like Lot’s wife, who looked back at everything she was leaving behind and became a pillar of salt. Remember Lot’s wife. That’s what Jesus specifically said in Luke 17:32. Remember Lot’s wife. Why? Because she’s a warning to us about the danger of being too attached to what we’re leaving behind.

Think about that story for a moment. God was destroying Sodom and Gomorrah because of their wickedness. He sent angels to rescue Lot and his family. The angels grabbed them by the hand and led them out of the city, urging them to flee for their lives and not look back. But Lot’s wife couldn’t help herself. She looked back. Maybe she was thinking about her house, all her possessions, the life she had built there. Maybe she was thinking about friends she was leaving behind. Maybe she was mourning the loss of her comfort and security. Whatever the reason, she looked back and she became a pillar of salt. Her attachment to what she was leaving behind cost her everything. She was so close to safety, but she couldn’t let go of what was behind her, and it destroyed her.

Jesus references this story specifically as a warning to us. He’s saying, “Don’t be like her. Don’t be so attached to your house, your possessions, your material security that you can’t walk away when God tells you to. Don’t let your stuff become more important to you than obeying God. Because if you do, it will destroy you.

The house represents a mindset that says, “But I’ve worked so hard for this. I’ve invested so much time, so much money, so much effort. I can’t just walk away from everything I’ve built. I can’t just leave it all behind.” And Jesus is saying yes you can and yes you must. If I call you to walk away you have to be willing. Because if your house, your possessions, your material security means more to you than obeying God, then those things have become your idol. They’ve taken the place that God should have in your heart.

Do you remember the rich young ruler? He came to Jesus and asked what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus told him to keep the commandments. The young man said he had kept all of them since he was a boy. Then Jesus looked at him with love and said, “One thing you lack. Go sell everything you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me.” The Bible says the man’s face fell. He went away sad because he had great wealth. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t let go of his possessions. His attachment to his house, his wealth, his material security was too strong. He loved his stuff more than he loved God. And so he walked away from eternal life. He walked away from following Jesus. He chose his temporary possessions over eternal treasure. And it’s one of the saddest stories in all of scripture.

Jesus isn’t saying possessions are evil. He’s not saying we can’t own houses or have nice things. He’s saying attachment to possessions is dangerous. He’s saying that if we can’t hold our houses, our cars, our bank accounts, our retirement plans with open hands, then we’re not ready for what’s coming. He’s saying that if we value our stuff more than we value obedience to God, then our stuff has become our God.

And in the last days, there may come a time when God asks you to leave everything behind. He may call you to move to a different location for ministry or safety. He may call you to liquidate your ᴀssets and invest in his kingdom. He may call you to open your home to others who need shelter. He may call you to give away possessions you’ve held dear to help people in need. And the question is, will you obey or will you be like the rich young ruler who went away sad because he had great possessions?

When the world turns dark overnight, those who are clutching their houses, their stuff, their material security will find themselves trapped. They’ll be paralyzed by the fear of losing what they have. They’ll compromise their faith to protect their possessions. They’ll choose earthly security over heavenly calling. They’ll make decisions based on what will preserve their wealth rather than what God is calling them to do. And in the end, they’ll lose both their possessions and their souls.

Because Jesus said, “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world yet forfeit their soul? You can accumulate all the possessions in the world. You can build the biggest house. You can have the most comfortable life. But if you lose your soul in the process, you’ve lost everything.

But those who have learned to hold everything loosely, who have invested in eternal treasures rather than temporal ones, who have already died to their attachment to this world, they’ll be free to follow Jesus wherever he leads, no matter what it costs. They’ll be able to obey God immediately when he calls because they’re not weighed down by attachment to possessions. They’ll be able to leave their house without looking back because their treasure is in heaven, not on earth. They’ll be able to sacrifice their material security because they trust in God as their provider.

And when the crisis comes, they’ll discover that what they thought they were giving up was nothing compared to what God gives them in return.

I want to share something with you that I think will help illustrate this point. There was a missionary named Jim Elliot who along with four other men went to Ecuador to share the gospel with the Huarani people, a tribe that had never heard about Jesus. These were young men with their whole lives ahead of them. They had families, opportunities, futures, but they felt called by God to go to this dangerous place and reach these people with the gospel. In 1956, all five of them were killed by the very people they were trying to reach.

From the world’s perspective, this was a tragic waste. These young men gave up everything, their lives, their futures, their families for what? But Jim Elliot had written something in his journal that showed he understood what Jesus was teaching about the house. He wrote, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

That’s the key to understanding Jesus’s warning about the house. Everything you have in this world, you cannot keep. Your house, your possessions, your wealth, your comfort, all of it is temporary. You’re going to lose it all eventually, either through death or through the collapse of this world system, you cannot keep it.

But what you invest in God’s kingdom, what you store up in heaven, that you cannot lose, that’s eternal, that lasts forever. So he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. The person who holds loosely to earthly possessions and invests heavily in eternal treasure isn’t a fool. They’re wise. They understand what really matters. They know where their true security lies.

Jesus said in Matthew 6:es 19- 21, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

This is so important to understand. Your treasure and your heart are connected. Where you invest your treasure, that’s where your heart will be. If you invest all your treasure in earthly things, in your house, in your possessions, in your material comfort, then your heart will be attached to those things. You’ll be unable to let go of them. You’ll be like the rich young ruler or Lot’s wife.

But if you invest your treasure in heaven, if you pour your resources into God’s kingdom, into eternal things, then your heart will be there. You’ll be able to hold earthly things loosely because they’re not where your treasure is. Your treasure is secure in heaven and that’s where your heart is.

So what does it look like practically to get out of the house to break free from attachment to possessions?

It means doing a ruthless evaluation of everything you own and asking yourself, do I own this or does this own me? Could I walk away from this if God called me to? Is this thing serving me or am I serving it?

It means simplifying your life, getting rid of possessions you don’t need, downsizing from excess to enough. It means choosing experiences and relationships over accumulation of stuff. It means investing your money in eternal things rather than just storing it up for your own security. It means giving generously to God’s kingdom, to missions, to the poor, to ministries that are advancing the gospel.

It means holding your house, your car, your retirement account, all of it with an open hand, ready to let go if God asks you to. It means being willing to live more simply so you can give more generously. It means choosing contentment over constant upgrade. It means breaking the cycle of always wanting more, always needing the latest version, always feeling like what you have isn’t quite enough.

It means finding your security in God rather than in your bank account. It means trusting him to provide for your needs rather than trusting in your own ability to accumulate enough to feel safe. It means being willing to obey God even when it costs you financially. Even when it means giving up comfort or security. Even when it means sacrificing what you’ve worked hard to build.

Because when the world turns dark overnight, those who are free from attachment to their houses and possessions will be the ones who can respond to God’s leading with immediate obedience. They’ll be free to go wherever he sends them to do whatever he calls them to do, to sacrifice whatever he asks them to sacrifice.

But those who are trapped by their attachment to stuff, who value their material security more than their obedience to God, they’ll find themselves paralyzed, unable to respond, left behind while God’s kingdom moves forward without them.

The fifth place Jesus warned us not to be is among the scoffers. In Luke 17 26-30, Jesus says, “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying, and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark.” Then the flood came and destroyed them all. It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.

Notice what Jesus is describing here. These people weren’t necessarily doing evil things in themselves. They were just living normal lives completely oblivious to the judgment that was coming. They were eating, drinking, marrying, buying, selling, planting, building. all normal activities, things people do every day. But they were doing these things in an atmosphere of complete spiritual blindness and unbelief.

They were among the scoffers who didn’t believe Noah’s warnings when he preached for 120 years that a flood was coming. They mocked him. They ridiculed him. They thought he was a crazy old man building a giant boat on dry land. Why would you need a boat when it had never even rained before? They scoffed at the idea of judgment. They dismissed his warnings. They continued living their normal lives, completely confident that nothing was going to change, that tomorrow would be just like today.

And they were completely wrong. The flood came. They were all destroyed. Only Noah and his family who believed the warning and prepared for what was coming were saved.

The same thing happened in Sodom. Lot warned his sons-in-law that God was going to destroy the city. The Bible says they thought he was joking. They scoffed at the warning. They dismissed it as ridiculous. Why would God destroy their city? Everything was fine. Life was going on as normal. They were buying and selling, planting and building, eating and drinking. There was no reason to think anything would change. So they ignored Lot’s warning. They stayed in Sodom. And when fire and sulfur rained down from heaven, they were all destroyed. Only Lot and his daughters who heeded the warning and fled were saved.

Jesus is saying this is exactly what it will be like when he returns. People will be living normal lives, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, buying and selling, planting and building, completely oblivious to the coming judgment.

They’ll scoff at the warnings. They’ll mock those who say Jesus is coming back. They’ll ridicule believers who are watching for the signs of the times and preparing for what’s ahead. They’ll dismiss biblical prophecy as outdated supersтιтion. They’ll laugh at the idea that the world could change overnight and they’ll continue living their normal lives right up until the moment judgment falls and then it will be too late.

And Jesus is warning us, don’t be among those people when the world turns dark. Don’t surround yourself with scoffers and mockers who dismiss the warnings of scripture. Don’t position yourself in an environment where unbelief is the norm, where faith is ridiculed, where biblical truth is dismissed. Because that environment will drag you down. It will dull your spiritual senses. It will make you doubt what God has clearly said. It will cause you to compromise what you know to be true just to fit in with the prevailing worldview around you.

2 Peter 3:es 3 and 4 warns us, “Above all, you must understand that in the last days, scoffers will come scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this coming?” he promised. Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.

Peter is telling us that scoffing at the return of Christ will be one of the distinctive marks of the last days. People will point to the fact that life continues on normally as evidence that Jesus isn’t coming back, that the prophecies aren’t true, that believers who are watching and waiting are deluded fools.

These scoffers are everywhere today. They’re in our media, in our universities, in our workplaces, in our entertainment, in our culture, and tragically even in our churches. They mock the idea of Jesus returning. They dismiss biblical prophecy as outdated mythology written by primitive people who didn’t understand science. They ridicule believers who take God’s word seriously and who live with the urgency of knowing Christ could return at any moment. They make fun of people who are watching the signs of the times. They scoff at the idea that we’re living in the last days. They present sophisticated arguments for why the Bible can’t be taken literally, why prophecy shouldn’t be interpreted plainly, why believers need to update their thinking to align with modern understanding.

And if you position yourself among these scoffers, if you spend all your time listening to their voices, absorbing their worldview, adopting their skepticism, consuming their media, being educated by their insтιтutions, surrounding yourself with their influence. You will find your faith eroding. You’ll start to question things you once believed with certainty. You’ll begin to think that maybe the Bible isn’t as reliable as you thought. You’ll start to doubt whether Jesus is really coming back. You’ll begin to wonder if perhaps you’ve been too extreme, too radical, too literal in your interpretation of scripture. You’ll feel embarrᴀssed about your faith when you’re around the scoffers. You’ll start watering down your beliefs to make them more palatable to the unbelieving world around you.

The scoffers are smooth talkers. They sound intelligent, reasonable, sophisticated, educated, nuanced. They make faith seem naive and obedience seem foolish. They present themselves as the enlightened ones and believers as the ignorant ones. They mock simple trust in God’s word as anti-intellectual. They ridicule those who believe in miracles and the supernatural. They dismiss prayer as psychological self-comfort. They scoff at the idea that there are absolute moral truths revealed in scripture.

And if you’re constantly exposed to their influence without a strong foundation in God’s word and a vibrant prayer life and a community of believers who are standing firm on truth, you will be moved. You will drift. You will compromise. Your faith will be eroded away little by little until you wake up one day and realize you don’t really believe much of anything anymore.

This is especially dangerous in our current age where we’re constantly bombarded with messages from every direction. We carry devices in our pockets that give us access to an endless stream of content, much of it produced by scoffers who are hostile to biblical Christianity. We spend hours every day consuming media, listening to podcasts, scrolling through social media, watching videos, reading articles, and so much of it is infused with a worldview that mocks and dismisses faith.

And we think we’re immune to its influence. We think we can consume all this content without it affecting us. But that’s not how the human mind works. We are shaped by what we consistently expose ourselves to. If you’re constantly listening to voices that scoff at God’s word, that dismiss biblical truth, that mock faith and obedience, those voices will shape your thinking, whether you realize it or not.

Jesus is warning us to separate ourselves from the spirit of scoffing and unbelief. This doesn’t mean we completely isolate ourselves from unbelievers. We’re called to be salt and light in the world. We’re called to engage with unbelievers, to share the gospel with them, to be a witness to them. But it does mean we need to be very careful about where we position ourselves, who we listen to, what voices we allow to influence our thinking, who our closest friends are, who we’re allowing to shape our world view.

There’s a difference between engaging with unbelievers to witness to them and positioning yourself so that unbelievers are your primary source of influence and community. Are you surrounded by people who strengthen your faith or weaken it? Are you in environments that draw you closer to God or pull you away from him? Are you listening to voices that affirm biblical truth or undermine it?

Who are your closest friends? Who do you spend most of your time with? Who influences your thinking? Who shapes your values? If the primary voices in your life are scoffers, if your closest relationships are with people who mock faith, if you’re spending more time consuming content produced by unbelievers than you are in God’s word and in fellowship with believers, you’re positioning yourself in a very dangerous place.

Psalm 1 begins with this warning. Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers. Notice the progression there. First you walk in step with the wicked. You’re just sort of moving in the same direction as them. Then you stand in the way of sinners. You’ve stopped moving and you’re hanging out with them. Then you sit in the company of mockers. Now you’re comfortable with them, settled in, positioned among them.

That’s the danger Jesus is warning us about. Don’t position yourself among the mockers, among the scoffers. Because when the world turns dark overnight, those who have positioned themselves among the scoffers will be swept away with them. They’ll have adopted the scoffers mindset so completely that they won’t even recognize the signs of the times. They won’t hear God’s warning. They won’t respond to his call. They’ll be so influenced by the spirit of scoffing and unbelief that even when judgment is falling, they’ll still be in denial, still dismissing it, still refusing to believe. They’ll be eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, completely oblivious until it’s too late. Just like in the days of Noah, just like in the days of Lot.

Don’t let that be you. Separate yourself from the spirit of mockery and unbelief. I’m not saying to be mean to unbelievers or to refuse to engage with them. I’m saying don’t let them be your primary influence. Don’t position yourself where their voices are louder in your life than God’s voice. Don’t surround yourself so completely with scoffers that you start to think like them.

Surround yourself primarily with people of faith, people who believe God’s word, people who are watching for the Lord’s return, people who are taking biblical prophecy seriously, people who are living with urgency and purpose. Position yourself in environments where God is honored, where his word is believed, where his spirit is moving, where faith is strengthened rather than eroded.

Because in the days ahead, you’re going to need that community of faith more than you can possibly imagine right now. You’re going to need people around you who believe the same truths you believe, who are standing on the same foundation, who are resisting the same lies, who are pursuing the same God. When the pressure comes to compromise, when the culture is screaming at you to deny biblical truth, when the cost of faith keeps rising, you’re going to need brothers and sisters in Christ who will stand with you, who will encourage you, who will remind you of truth when you’re tempted to doubt.

Don’t be among the scoffers, be among the faithful.

The sixth place Jesus warned us not to be is in the temple courts. Now, this might surprise you because the temple was supposed to be the house of God, the center of worship, the place where God’s presence dwelt. How could Jesus warn us about being there? But look at what he said in Matthew 24 15 and 16. So when you see standing in the holy place the abomination that causes desolation spoken of through the prophet Daniel, let the reader understand. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

Jesus is warning that there will come a time when even the holy place, even the center of religious activity, even the temple itself will become a place of desolation, a place of abomination, a place you need to flee from immediately. Don’t try to defend it. Don’t try to stay and reform it. Don’t try to preserve it. Just flee. Run to the mountains. Get out of there as fast as you can.

This is one of the most sobering warnings Jesus gave us and it’s incredibly relevant today because what Jesus is telling us is that religion without relationship, ritual without reality, form without power, tradition without truth, these things not only fail to protect us, they can actually become traps. They can become dangerous places. They can even become places of abomination.

In the last days, there will be religious insтιтutions, churches, denominations, movements that have a form of godliness but deny its power. They’ll look right on the outside. They’ll have all the religious trappings, all the traditional elements. They’ll have beautiful buildings, robed clergy, formal liturgies, impressive ceremonies. They’ll use Christian language, sing worship songs, preach from the Bible, celebrate sacraments, but they’ll be spiritually ᴅᴇᴀᴅ. They’ll have lost connection with the living God. They’ll be following traditions of men rather than the truth of God.

And if you’re there when the world turns dark, you’ll be in great danger.

The temple courts represent insтιтutional religion that has lost its connection to the living God. It’s Christianity that’s more concerned with tradition than truth. More focused on preserving the organization than pursuing God’s presence. More interested in maintaining respectability in society than remaining faithful to scripture. It’s the kind of church that cares more about its reputation in the community than its obedience to God’s word. It’s the kind of insтιтution that values stability and tradition more than the move of the Holy Spirit. It’s the kind of religion that has become more about the insтιтution itself, its survival, its influence, its wealth, its power than about actually knowing God and making him known.

And Jesus is saying when you see the abomination, when you see the holy place become unholy, when you see the church become worldly and compromised, when you see the temple become a place of desolation rather than a place of God’s presence, flee. Don’t stay there thinking your religious affiliation will save you. Don’t remain in a spiritually ᴅᴇᴀᴅ environment hoping things will improve. Don’t keep attending a church where the gospel isn’t preached, where sin isn’t confronted, where holiness isn’t pursued, where God’s spirit isn’t welcome just because it’s familiar or because it’s where your family has always gone. Run to the mountains. Run to where God truly is. Even if it means leaving behind everything you’ve known. Even if it means being misunderstood. Even if it means being accused of being divisive or critical.

This is happening right now in many parts of the church around the world. We’re seeing denominations and insтιтutions that once stood firmly on biblical truth now compromising on fundamental issues. We’re seeing churches that once preached the gospel clearly now watering it down to make it more palatable to the culture. We’re seeing leaders who once called people to holiness now embracing worldliness in the name of relevance. We’re seeing insтιтutions that once stood against sin now celebrating it in the name of love and inclusion. We’re seeing movements that once emphasized the authority of scripture now subjecting the Bible to cultural sensibilities and human reason.

We’re seeing the holy place become unholy. We’re seeing the abomination of desolation being set up in places that were once dedicated to God. And many believers are stuck in these environments, sitting in the temple courts, going through religious motions while spiritual death surrounds them. They stay because it’s familiar, because it’s comfortable, because their friends are there, because their family has attended for three or four generations because they don’t want to be seen as divisive or judgmental or critical because they’re hoping things will turn around because they think their presence there somehow helps.

But Jesus is warning us there comes a point where you have to flee. There comes a point where staying in a compromised religious environment becomes more dangerous than leaving. There comes a point where the holy place becomes so unholy that God’s presence departs. And when God’s presence departs, you need to leave too.

When the world turns dark overnight, these compromised churches will offer no refuge. In fact, they may become instruments of persecution themselves, turning on believers who refuse to go along with the world’s agenda, who insist on maintaining biblical standards, who won’t compromise on truth.

History shows us this has happened before in Nazi Germany. Much of the established church either supported the regime or stayed silent about its atrocities. The official state church became a tool of the evil government. Only a remnant, the confessing church, led by people like Dietrich Bonhoffer, stood firm on biblical truth and paid the price for it. Many of them were imprisoned or killed for their faithfulness. But they understood that staying in the compromised insтιтutional church would have meant compromising their faith. they had to flee the temple courts and form new communities of genuine believers.

The same pattern has repeated throughout history whenever the church has become too cozy with worldly power and cultural acceptance. Whenever the insтιтutional church prioritizes its position in society over its faithfulness to God, it becomes corrupted. It becomes a place of abomination rather than a place of worship. And the faithful remnant always has to make a choice. Stay and compromise or leave and remain faithful.

We’re facing that same choice again today in many places. There are churches and denominations that have so thoroughly compromised biblical truth that they no longer preach the gospel. They no longer call sin what it is. They no longer uphold biblical standards of holiness. They’ve traded truth for cultural acceptance. They’ve exchanged the authority of scripture for the shifting sands of cultural opinion. They’ve replaced the fear of God with the fear of man. And they’ve become spiritually ᴅᴇᴀᴅ even while maintaining the outward forms of religion.

Don’t be in the temple courts when they become a place of abomination. Don’t stay in a church that has abandoned biblical truth just because it’s familiar or prestigious or has a long history. Don’t remain under leadership that is leading people away from God rather than toward him. Don’t keep supporting an insтιтution that has departed from the faith, even if it still uses Christian language and goes through Christian rituals.

When the temple becomes a place of desolation, when the holy place becomes unholy, you need to flee. It’s better to meet with two or three believers in a home where God’s spirit is genuinely present than to sit in a cathedral where his presence has departed. It’s better to worship in a simple gathering of authentic believers than in an elaborate ceremony where everything is form and nothing is reality. It’s better to be part of a small community that’s truly seeking God than to be part of a mᴀssive insтιтution that’s just going through religious motions.

Jesus said, “Where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” The presence of God doesn’t depend on buildings or insтιтutions or traditions. It depends on genuine faith, on hearts that are truly seeking him, on obedience to his word, on openness to his spirit.

Seek God himself, not just the religious insтιтutions that bear his name. Because in the days ahead, only a genuine connection with the living God will sustain you. Not your membership in a particular church or denomination, not your family’s religious heritage, not your standing in a religious insтιтution. Only a real living relationship with Jesus Christ will carry you through what’s coming.

This doesn’t mean you should be flippant about leaving a church or quick to jump ship at the first sign of something you disagree with. We should be committed to the body of Christ and faithful to the communities God has placed us in. But there’s a difference between working through normal challenges and disagreements within a healthy church and staying in an environment that has fundamentally departed from biblical truth. There’s a difference between being patient with imperfect people and accepting insтιтutional compromise on core doctrinal issues. There’s a difference between extending grace for human weakness and tolerating systematic teaching of error.

When a church no longer believes the Bible is God’s authoritative word, when it no longer preaches that Jesus is the only way to salvation, when it celebrates what God calls sin, when it rejects biblical standards of holiness, when it’s more concerned with being culturally acceptable than biblically faithful, when the leadership is leading people away from God rather than toward him, that’s when you need to flee. That’s when the temple courts have become a place of abomination. That’s when staying becomes more dangerous than leaving.

And I want to be clear, this isn’t about being judgmental or divisive or thinking you’re better than other Christians. It’s about spiritual survival. It’s about positioning yourself where God’s spirit truly is. It’s about not being deceived by outward religious forms into thinking you’re fine spiritually when you’re actually in great danger. It’s about recognizing that insтιтutions can become corrupted. That the trappings of religion don’t equal the reality of relationship with God. That sometimes the most faithful thing you can do is leave the familiar and seek God wherever he truly is.

The seventh and final place Jesus warned us not to be is in our own righteousness. In Luke 18:es 9-14, Jesus tells the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. He told this parable specifically to people who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else. In the parable, a Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people, robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.” But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Jesus said it was the tax collector, not the Pharisee, who went home justified before God. Then he concluded with these words, “For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

as this is perhaps the most dangerous place of all to be when the world turns dark. Standing in your own righteousness, trusting in your own goodness, believing you’re right with God because of what you’ve done rather than because of what Christ has done. The place of self-righteousness is a place of deception. It’s where we compare ourselves to others and feel superior. It’s where we count up our religious activities and feel secure. It’s where we look at our moral behavior and feel justified. But it’s all built on sand. It’s all a lie. It’s all a deception.

Because the only righteousness that saves us is the righteousness of Jesus Christ received by faith as a gift of grace. Not earned by works, not achieved by our efforts, not accumulated by our religious performance.

When the world turns dark overnight, those standing in their own righteousness will discover how inadequate their goodness really is. They’ll find that their religious credentials, their moral achievements, their spiritual disciplines, none of it is enough to stand before a holy God. They’ll discover that the foundation they’ve been building on is worthless. They’ll realize too late that they’ve been building their house on the wrong foundation. That they’ve been trusting in the wrong thing, that they’ve been standing on sinking sand. And when the storms come and the floods rise and the winds blow and beat against that house, it will fall with a great crash.

The Pharisee in Jesus’s parable represents so many religious people today, both in Jesus’s time and in ours. They’re sincere. They’re disciplined. They’re committed to their religious practices. They’re not hypocrites in the sense of being intentionally deceptive. They genuinely believe they’re doing what’s right. They тιтhe faithfully. They fast regularly. They pray often. They serve in their churches. They live morally upright lives. They avoid the gross sins that others commit. And they think these things make them right with God. They think their obedience earns God’s favor. They think their righteousness saves them. They think they’re better than other people who aren’t as disciplined, as committed, as moral as they are.

But they’ve missed the whole point. They’ve missed the gospel. They’ve missed grace. They’ve missed the truth that we’re saved by grace through faith, not by works, so that no one can boast. They’ve created a religious system where they’re the hero of the story, where their obedience earns God’s approval, where their righteousness makes them acceptable. But that’s not Christianity. That’s religion. That’s self-righteousness. That’s trusting in yourself rather than trusting in Christ.

And religion can’t save anyone. Self-righteousness can’t justify anyone. Our own good works can’t make us right with God. Only Jesus saves. Only his righteousness counts. Only his blood cleanses. Only his grace transforms.

And if we’re standing in our own righteousness when the world turns dark, we’ll discover we have no righteousness at all. We’ll find that what we thought was righteousness was actually filthy rags in God’s sight. We’ll realize that our very best efforts fall infinitely short of God’s perfect standard. We’ll see that we’ve been trusting in something that could never save us, and it will be too late to change course.

The tax collector, on the other hand, represents the posture we need to have. He knew he was a sinner. He knew he had no righteousness of his own. He knew he had nothing to offer God, nothing to boast about, nothing to stand on. He knew his only hope was God’s mercy. He couldn’t even lift his eyes to heaven because he was so aware of his unworthiness. He just beat his breast in grief over his sin and cried out, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

And Jesus said, “He was the one who went home justified. Not the religious Pharisee with all his good works.” But the broken sinner who cried out for mercy.

This is the gospel. This is what saves us. Not our performance, but God’s mercy. Not our righteousness, but Christ’s righteousness credited to us by faith. Not our works, but his grace, not our goodness, but his sacrifice. We come to God as beggars, empty-handed, with nothing to offer but our sin and our need. And he gives us everything. He forgives our sin. He clothes us in Christ’s righteousness. He adopts us as his children. He gives us his spirit. He transforms us from the inside out. Not because we deserve it, not because we’ve earned it, but because of his grace, his mercy, his love.

Are you standing in your own righteousness today? Do you look at other believers and think you’re more committed, more disciplined, more spiritual, more faithful than they are? Do you feel secure in your relationship with God because of what you’ve done rather than what he’s done? Do you think God owes you something because of your service, your sacrifice, your obedience, your religious activities? Do you compare yourself to others and feel superior? Do you take pride in your spiritual disciplines, your biblical knowledge, your ministry involvement, your moral purity?

If so, you’re in a very dangerous place. You’re standing on the same foundation the Pharisee was standing on. And it’s a foundation that will crumble when the storms come. Because when the trials come, when the persecution rises, when the world turns dark, your righteousness won’t be enough. Your religious performance won’t sustain you. Your moral credentials won’t save you. Your spiritual resume won’t deliver you.

You’ll need something more. You’ll need the righteousness of Christ. You’ll need to be able to cry out like the tax collector, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” You’ll need to rest your entire weight on the grace of God, not on your own goodness.

You’ll need to be able to say with Paul in Philippians 3:es 8 and 9, “I consider everything a loss because of the surpᴀssing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.

That’s where we need to be. Not standing in our own righteousness, but standing in Christ’s righteousness. Not trusting in what we’ve done, but trusting in what he’s done. Not boasting in our obedience, but boasting in his grace. Not comparing ourselves to others, but measuring ourselves against God’s perfect standard and realizing we all fall short. Not feeling superior because of our religious performance, but feeling grateful because of God’s undeserved mercy. Not taking credit for our spiritual growth, but giving all glory to God who works in us both to will and to act according to his good purpose.

This is the only safe place to be when the world turns dark. Because when everything is stripped away, when all our props are removed, when we’re tested to the very core of our being, only those who are standing on the solid rock of Christ’s righteousness will survive. Those who are standing on the sand of their own righteousness will fall. And great will be their fall.

Self-righteousness is particularly dangerous because it’s so deceptive. It feels like you’re doing the right thing. It feels like you’re being faithful. It feels like you’re pursuing God, but you’re actually trusting in yourself. You’re actually building on the wrong foundation. And you don’t realize it until it’s too late, until the test comes and reveals what you’ve really been trusting in.

So, examine your heart today. What are you really trusting in? What’s the foundation of your confidence before God? Is it what you’ve done or what Christ has done? Is it your righteousness or his? Is it your obedience or his grace?

Are you standing like the Pharisee, listing your spiritual accomplishments and comparing yourself favorably to others? Or are you standing like the tax collector, aware of your sin and desperate for God’s mercy?

The irony is that the person who stands in their own righteousness, who thinks they’re fine, who believes they’re acceptable to God because of their good works, that person is actually in the most danger. But the person who sees their sin, who knows they’re unworthy, who cries out for God’s mercy, that person is the one who goes home justified, that person is standing on the only foundation that will hold when everything else is shaking.

Don’t be in your own righteousness when the world turns dark. Be in Christ’s righteousness, received as a gift, held on to by faith, resting entirely on his grace.

So here we are. Seven places Jesus warned us not to be when the world turns dark overnight. Not in the field distracted by earthly pursuits and trusting in worldly systems. Not at the mill, grinding away in spiritual routine without genuine encounter with God. Not in bed, asleep to the spiritual realities around us and unprepared for what’s coming. Not in our house, attached to our possessions and material security more than we’re attached to God. Not among the scoffers influenced by unbelief and mockery that erodess our faith. Not in the temple courts, trusting in insтιтutional religion without genuine relationship with God, and not in our own righteousness, standing on our performance rather than on Christ’s perfection.

These warnings aren’t meant to fill us with fear. They’re meant to wake us up. They’re meant to help us examine our lives and make necessary changes before it’s too late. They’re meant to show us where we’re vulnerable so we can reposition ourselves before the crisis comes. They’re meant to prepare us, to protect us, to position us correctly for what’s ahead.

Because friends, I believe with all my heart that we are living in the days Jesus warned us about. We’re seeing the signs he told us to watch for. We’re witnessing the convergence of events that biblical prophecy predicted. The world is turning dark. Maybe not overnight in the literal sense of a single 24-hour period, but rapidly, undeniably, dramatically at an accelerating pace.

And the question is, where are you positioned? Where are you standing? Where have you planted your life? Where have you invested your time, your energy, your resources, your heart?

If you’ve recognized yourself in any of these seven places today, if the Holy Spirit has convicted you that you’re in a dangerous position spiritually, there’s still time to move. There’s still time to reposition yourself. There’s still time to make the changes God is calling you to make. The warnings are given in advance precisely so we can respond before it’s too late.

Get out of the field. Stop being so consumed with earthly pursuits that you have no time for eternal things. Yes, work hard. Yes, be responsible. Yes, provide for your family. But hold it all loosely. Don’t let your work become your master. Don’t let your career consume you. Don’t let the pursuit of earthly security crowd out your pursuit of God. Make space for God. Prioritize the kingdom. Remember that your true treasure is in heaven, not on earth. Invest in things that have eternal value. Use your work as a means to serve God, not as a subsтιтute for serving God.

Get off the mill. Break out of spiritual routine. Stop going through religious motions and start pursuing a genuine, pᴀssionate, living relationship with Jesus Christ. Stir up the fire. Seek his face with desperation. Disrupt your comfortable patterns. Try new spiritual disciplines. Explore different ways of connecting with God. Let him awaken fresh hunger in your heart. Don’t settle for ᴅᴇᴀᴅ religion. Don’t be content with going through the motions. Pursue the abundant life Jesus promised. Press in for genuine encounters with the living God. Let your faith be vibrant and alive, not stale and routine.

Wake up from sleep. Stop being so comfortable in your Christianity that you’re unconscious to spiritual realities. Open your eyes to the times we’re living in. Pay attention to what’s happening in the world. Study biblical prophecy. Understand the signs of the times. Become a person of prayer and vigilance. Stay alert. Stay ready. Stay prepared for whatever God calls you to do. Don’t let comfort and ease lull you into spiritual slumber. Choose vigilance over ease. Choose readiness over relaxation. Choose alertness over autopilot. Be a watcher who’s ready when the bridegroom comes.

Let go of your house. Release your grip on possessions and material security. Hold everything with open hands. Be willing to obey God even if it costs you everything you’ve accumulated. Be willing to walk away from your comfort if God calls you to. Be willing to downsize, simplify, give away, let go. Invest in eternal treasures, not temporal ones. Remember that moth and rust destroy, that thieves break in and steal, but what you invest in heaven is secure forever. Don’t be like the rich young ruler who couldn’t let go of his possessions. Don’t be like Lot’s wife who looked back and was destroyed. Hold your stuff loosely and hold God тιԍнтly.

Separate from the scoffers. Stop allowing voices of unbelief and mockery to influence your thinking. Be wise about what you expose yourself to. Be intentional about who you allow to shape your world view. Surround yourself with people of faith. Position yourself in environments where God is honored. Limit your exposure to media and messages that undermine biblical truth. Fill your mind with God’s word more than with the world’s wisdom. Let the Bible shape your thinking, not the culture. Find a community of believers who are standing firm on truth and surround yourself with them. Let iron sharpen iron. Let faith strengthen faith.

Flee from ᴅᴇᴀᴅ religion. If you’re in a church or religious environment, that has compromised biblical truth, that has lost the presence of God, that has become more concerned with cultural acceptance than with obedience to scripture, it’s time to leave. Find a community of believers who are genuinely seeking God, even if it’s just a handful of people meeting in a home. Don’t stay in the temple courts when they’ve become a place of abomination. Don’t trust in an insтιтution that has departed from the faith. The size of the building doesn’t matter. The presence of God does. Seek him wherever he truly is, even if it means leaving behind traditions and insтιтutions that are familiar.

And finally, abandon your own righteousness. Stop standing on your performance. Stop trusting in your religious credentials. Stop thinking your obedience earns God’s favor. Fall at the feet of Jesus like the tax collector and cry out for mercy. Acknowledge that you’re a sinner, that you have no righteousness of your own, that your only hope is God’s grace through Jesus Christ. Receive his righteousness as a gift. Trust in his finished work on the cross. Boast only in his grace. Let go of pride in your spiritual accomplishments. Let go of comparison with other believers. Let go of confidence in your own goodness and cling to Christ alone as your only righteousness, your only hope, your only salvation.

These are the warnings Jesus gave us. These are the places we need to avoid when the world turns dark. But there’s a flip side to all of this. If these are the places not to be, where should we be?

Let me tell you clearly and emphatically, we should be in Christ. That’s the only safe place. Not in our jobs, not in our routines, not in our comfort, not in our possessions, not among unbelievers, not in compromised religion, not in our own righteousness. In Christ, fully surrendered to him, completely dependent on him, totally hidden in him, united with him, abiding in him.

We should be in the secret place, that intimate place of fellowship with God, where we meet with him alone, where we abide in his presence, where we hear his voice, where we receive his strength, where we’re refreshed and renewed and empowered. We should be people who know how to shut the door, withdraw from the noise and bustle, and commune with our father in secret. People who have a genuine prayer life, not just public prayers, but private intercession. People who know God intimately, not just know about him.

We should be in the word, not just reading it as a routine, but devouring it, meditating on it day and night, allowing it to transform our thinking and guide our steps. The word of God needs to be alive in us, not just a book we read occasionally. It needs to be hidden in our hearts so we don’t sin against God. It needs to be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. It needs to be the lens through which we view everything else in life.

We should be in prayer, not just quick requests before meals, but deep communion with God. Intercession for ourselves, our families, our churches, our nations, spiritual warfare against the forces of darkness, crying out to God with desperation, wrestling with him like Jacob, persevering in prayer like the persistent widow, watching and praying so we don’t fall into temptation. making prayer a priority, not an afterthought.

We should be in community with other soldout believers, not just casual acquaintances, but deep relationships with people who will stand with us, pray with us, encourage us, speak truth to us, and hold us accountable. We need brothers and sisters in Christ who are pursuing God with the same intensity we are, who are committed to the same truth, who are willing to pay the same price. We need a community that will help us stand firm when the storms come.

We should be in the mission, actively sharing the gospel, making disciples, advancing God’s kingdom because we know time is short and the harvest is urgent. We can’t afford to be pᴀssive or complacent. We need to be intentional about reaching others with the truth of Jesus Christ. We need to be witnesses, ambᴀssadors, laborers in the harvest field. We need to invest our lives in things that will last for eternity.

We should be in a posture of readiness, watching, waiting, prepared for Jesus to return at any moment, living with the urgency of someone who knows this world is not our home. We need to be like the wise virgins with oil in our lamps, ready when the bridegroom comes. We need to be like the faithful servants who are found doing the master’s will when he returns. We need to be people who are living every day as if it could be our last, as if Jesus could return at any moment.

That’s where we need to be. That’s the safe place. That’s the position that will enable us not just to survive when the world turns dark, but to thrive, to shine, to be exactly what God has called us to be. Lights in the darkness, salt in the decay, witnesses to his truth and his grace, a faithful remnant that stands firm no matter what comes.

Now, let me close by sharing one final crucial truth with you. If you’ve listened to all these warnings and you’re feeling overwhelmed, if you’re thinking you’re not ready, you’re not strong enough, you’re not faithful enough, you’re not positioned correctly, let me tell you something that will give you hope.

God is not waiting for you to be perfect before he helps you. He’s not demanding that you fix everything before he extends his grace to you. He’s the one who gives you the strength to change. He’s the one who positions you where you need to be. He’s the one who prepares you for what’s coming. All he’s asking from you is willingness.

Willingness to respond to his warnings. Willingness to let him move you from dangerous places to safe ones. Willingness to surrender everything to him. Willingness to trust him more than you trust yourself or your circumstances.

If you’re willing, he’ll do the work. He’ll give you the grace to get out of the field. He’ll give you the fire to get off the mill. He’ll wake you up from sleep. He’ll help you let go of your house. He’ll separate you from the scoffers. He’ll lead you out of ᴅᴇᴀᴅ religion. And he’ll strip away your self-righteousness and clothe you in his righteousness.

You don’t have to do this in your own strength. In fact, you can’t. This is the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. But you have to cooperate with him. You have to be willing. You have to say yes to what he’s calling you to do. And when you do, he’ll empower you to do it. He’ll strengthen you for it. He’ll walk with you through it. He’ll never leave you or forsake you.

So right now, wherever you are, whatever dangerous place you’ve identified yourself in, would you surrender it to God? Would you say, “Lord, I recognize I’m in the field consumed with earthly pursuits. Help me get out. Reorient my priorities. Teach me to seek first your kingdom.

Or Lord, I’ve been grinding at the mill, going through religious motions without real relationship with you. Break me free from ᴅᴇᴀᴅ routine. Give me fresh fire. Awaken genuine hunger for you.

Or, Lord, I’ve been asleep spiritually. Wake me up. Open my eyes to the times we’re living in. Make me alert and ready.

Or, Lord, I’m too attached to my possessions. Help me hold everything loosely. Give me the faith to trust you more than my material security.

Or Lord, I’ve been positioning myself among scoffers. Separate me from voices of unbelief. Surround me with people of faith.

Oh, Lord, I’ve been staying in a spiritually ᴅᴇᴀᴅ religious environment. Give me the courage to leave and seek you where you truly are.

Or Lord, I’ve been standing in my own righteousness. Strip it away. Help me see my desperate need for your grace. Clothe me in Christ’s righteousness alone.

Whatever it is, bring it to him right now. Confess it. Surrender it. Ask for his help. And trust that he will answer. He will respond. He will move in your life because he loves you too much to let you stay in dangerous places. He’s warning you because he wants to save you, to protect you, to prepare you for what’s ahead.

If you’ve made it this far in this message, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for staying with me through these important warnings. I know this has been a long journey, but these are critical truths that we all need to understand and apply. The Holy Spirit is speaking to his church right now, calling us to wake up, to get serious, to position ourselves correctly for what’s ahead.

And if this message has impacted you, if it stirred something in your heart, if you sense God speaking to you through these warnings, I want to ask you to do something important. Would you subscribe to this channel if you haven’t already? Would you hit that like ʙuттon to help this message reach more people? Would you turn on notifications so you don’t miss future videos? because we’re going to continue diving deep into God’s word, exploring biblical prophecy, unpacking truth that will equip believers to stand strong in these last days.

The content we’re creating here isn’t just information, it’s preparation. It’s not just knowledge, it’s wisdom for the times we’re living in. These are messages that can literally change the trajectory of your life and help you be ready for what’s coming. I want to make sure you have access to everything we’re producing. Every teaching, every warning, every encouragement.

Also, would you share this video with people in your life who need to hear it? Send it to your friends and family. Post it on your social media. Share it in your group chats because there are people you know who are in dangerous places right now and don’t even realize it. There are believers who are stuck in the field, grinding at the mill, asleep in bed, clutching their houses, positioned among scoffers, trapped in ᴅᴇᴀᴅ religion, standing in their own righteousness. And this message could be the wakeup call they need. You could be the instrument God uses to help someone reposition themselves before it’s too late.

Don’t underestimate the power of simply sharing truth. A single share could make an eternal difference in someone’s life. It could be exactly what they needed to hear at exactly the right time.

As we close, I want to pray a blessing over you and ask God to do a deep work in your heart through this message. If you’re in a place where you can, I’d love for you to bow your head with me and receive this prayer.

Father, I thank you for every single person who has watched this video all the way through. I thank you for the work you’re already doing in their hearts. I thank you that you love us enough to warn us, to show us where we’re vulnerable, to call us to safer ground.

Lord, I pray that you would give each person watching the courage to respond to your warnings today. Give them the strength to make whatever changes you’re calling them to make. Help them to let go of anything that competes with their devotion to you. Help them to move from dangerous places to the safe place which is in Christ.

For those who are in the field consumed with earthly pursuits, draw them back to you. Remind them that you are their provider and that seeking your kingdom first is the path to true security. Help them reorder their priorities. Give them the wisdom to work hard but hold it all loosely.

For those at the mill trapped in spiritual routine, breathe fresh fire into their hearts. Disrupt their comfortable patterns and awaken them to the joy of genuine relationship with you. Give them hunger for your presence that can’t be satisfied with ᴅᴇᴀᴅ religion.

For those in bed, spiritually asleep, wake them up now. Open their eyes to the times they’re living in and the urgency of the hour. Make them watchful and ready. Don’t let them be caught unprepared. Give them spiritual alertness and vigilance for those attached to their house and possessions. Loosen their grip on material things. Help them hold everything with open hands and invest in eternal treasures. Free them from the bondage of materialism. Show them that you are better than anything this world can offer.

For those among the scoffers influenced by unbelief, separate them from those voices and surround them with people of faith who will strengthen them. Protect their minds from lies. Fill them with your truth. Build them up in their most holy faith.

For those in the temple courts trusting in ᴅᴇᴀᴅ religion, lead them to where your spirit truly is. Give them the courage to leave what’s familiar if it’s spiritually empty. Help them find authentic community of believers who truly know you.

And for those standing in their own righteousness, humble them. Show them their desperate need for your grace. Strip away their self-righteousness and lead them to the foot of the cross where they can receive the righteousness that comes only through faith in Jesus. Clothe them in Christ’s righteousness and help them rest entirely on your grace.

Lord, position your people correctly. Prepare us for what’s ahead. Make us ready to be the lights. You’ve called us to be in the darkest darkness. Give us wisdom. Give us courage. Give us strength. Give us faith. We trust you. We surrender to you. We commit our lives fully to you. do whatever you need to do in us to make us ready.

We yield ourselves to you completely in Jesus’s precious and powerful name. Amen.

My friends, may the Lord bless you and keep you. May his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May he turn his face toward you and give you peace. May he give you wisdom to heed his warnings and courage to follow wherever he leads. May he position you in the safe place which is in Christ. And may you find yourself ready, watching, prepared when the world turns dark overnight.

Until next time, stay faithful, stay watchful, and keep looking up. The King is coming, and we need to be ready. God bless you.