We live in precarious times. World events closely resemble the signs that the Bible predicts will immediately precede the return of Christ and while the majority of civilization seems completely unaware of these developments, Christians are to be awake and watchful to ensure they are informed regarding the “last days” and the “end of the age.”
Jesus said, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. This is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.” Mathew 36-40.
Today, life goes on with no apparent concern for Bible prophecy or spiritual destiny as most of civilization lives in the moment as people focus on materialism, entertainment, leisure and carnal pursuits, and are preoccupied with personal satisfaction. The cavalier attitudes of secular society have left most of humanity oblivious to just how late the hour has become and how precious little time is left before Jesus returns.
Just as in the days leading up to the flood, sin is prevalent in the world today and society has been conditioned to accept sinful behavior as a normalized expression of our individual rights and freedoms. Greed is encouraged through advertising, promoting the surrender to temptation and the abandonment of self-control, enticing citizens to desire wealth and fame while tolerating unethical practices in the pursuit of success. Evil is called good and good is called evil, as LGBTQ lifestyles are advanced into mainstream society and shoehorned into elementary school classrooms to indoctrinate children who shouldn’t concern them selves with sexuality at such young ages.
We are witnessing wars and rumors of wars throughout the globe and the doomsday clock now sits at 100 seconds to midnight while Russia’s threats of a nuclear response to NATO’s involvement in the war in Ukraine have the hands poised to move closer to 12:00. Humanity seems to be dialed into denial as the inevitable unfolds before our very eyes and there doesn’t seem to be any desire to curtail sin in any way, shape or form. World leaders today could learn so much from the king of Nineveh (Jonah 3).
Genesis 6:5-7 tells us, “The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the Lord said, ‘I will wipe mankind, whom I created, from the face of the earth – men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air – for I am grieved that I have made them.”
Paul wrote in his second epistle to Timothy, “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power,” 2 Timothy 3:1-5.
Even though the gospel has reached nearly every people group on our planet, and the far reaches of the globe, humanity for the most part remains resistant to repentance, while nonchalantly going about their daily lives. This present age of grace will not last much longer and just as in the time of Noah, there came a day when the ark was loaded and God closed the door. Today, even much of the Christian church seems unprepared for the coming judgement and unaware that the door to Christ’s wedding feast will be shut at some point as well.
In the twenty fifth chapter of Mathew, Jesus shares the parable of the ten virgins, “At that time the kingdom of God will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ ‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. Later, the others also came. ‘Sir, Sir!’ they said. ‘Open the door for us!’ But he replied, “I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’ Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.” Mathew 25:1-13.
God will not wait forever to punish evil and incarcerate Satan. A day is coming and will soon be here when Jesus will return for his bride, the Church, the true believers from all walks of life that have sincerely placed their faith in Christ and earnestly abide in him, eagerly long for his appearing. While the secular world mocks, ridicules and persecutes Christians, it is unknowingly fulfilling the prophetic warnings of scripture with it’s actions.
2 Peter 3:3-9 alludes of this very thing. “First of 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 fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.’ But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these same waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgement and destruction of ungodly men.
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: with the Lord a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
When Jesus returns, he will not return as the humble Lamb that was sacrificed on the cross for our sins, but as the Lion of Judah, the conquering King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Revelation 19:11-16 describes the scene: “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. ‘He will rule them with an iron scepter.’ He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has the name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”
Jude, one of Jesus’s brothers wrote of this event and referred to a prophecy given by Enoch in Jude 1:15, “Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: ‘See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
This scene depicts Christ in stark contrast to the lowly carpenter from Nazareth that John portrayed in his gospel and recorded in John 3:17, “For God did not send his Son to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” The Jesus that is preached in messages of love and forgiveness that dominate many sermons in many Christian denominations today, however, that window of saving opportunity is drawing to an end. The final curtain on the age of grace will close the door to repentance and it will be too late for those that never called upon Christ as their Redeemer.
Once again, Paul warns in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10, “This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed.”
Jesus said, “At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.” Mathew 24:30. The nations will mourn because they will realize that they denied the truth of the gospel and rejected Christ in much the same way as the Jews did two thousand years ago, and it will be too late to accept him now. Society has fabricated a plethora of excuses to justify its failure to follow Christ and it will soon pay the penalty for it’s obstinance. Even so, come Lord Jesus!
